Buddhist Temple Survived Earthquake, Hindu Site Damaged

May 29, 2006

Source: ANTARA News

http://www.antara.co.id/en/seenws/?id=13430

On May 29, 2006 ANTARA News reported, "Indonesia's Prambanan compound of Hindu temples was damaged in the earthquake that rocked Java, but the nearby Borobudur Buddhist temple complex was left unscathed, witnesses said Sunday.

Saturday's quake toppled intricately carved columns and dislodged numerous massive concrete blocks at Prambanan, a spectacular Hindu temple built in the ninth and 10th century, an [Agence France-Presse] photographer saw.

One of the temple's entrances was blocked by debris. Officials closed one section of the UNESCO World Heritage site to visitors because of the quake damage, while a second section remained open to the public on Sunday.

Prambanan, the largest Hindu temple compound in Indonesia, is located about 18 kilometers (10 miles) east of Yogyakarta, the main city in the quake zone... Visitors meanwhile poured into the Borobudur sanctuary, built between 750 and 850 AD, despite the devastation in Yogyakarta 40 kilometers to the southeast, said Suyoto, who works in the monument's administrative offices.

He told AFP the massive temple compound had not suffered any damage in the deadly 6.3-magnitude quake, adding: 'The situation here is calm. Everything is normal.'"