Source: Deutsche Presse-Agentur
YOGYAKARTA, INDONESIA September 3, 2002: Restoration work on Yogyakarta’s world-famous Buddhist/Hindu temples — Borobudur and Prambanan — may take decades to finish given Indonesia’s continuing economic crisis, experts say. Some work on Prambanan, 33 kilometers east of Borobudur, was completed in 1990. In 1991 both temples were declared World Heritage Sites by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The reconstructed portion of Prambanan, an 18-temple compound with three looming enclosed alters dedicated to the Brahma, Vishnu and Siva is only the innermost courtyard of what was a sprawling a complex of 37 acres with some 246 unrestored smaller temples. Although the innermost sanctuary was the most awe-inspiring, it only represents five per cent of what needs to be done to restore the temple to its former grandeur, claimed Indonesian archaeologist Bambang Prasetya, chairman of the restoration group of the Yogjakarta Historical and Archeological Heritage Reserve (SPSP) office. Since 1997, when the Asian economic crisis struck, the government budget for restoration work has dried up, as have grants from UNESCO, and former donor nations such as Japan and the Netherlands.