Modi Promises Prabowo: Prambanan Temple Restoration to Be Completed Before 2029

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has conveyed a promise made to President Prabowo Subianto during his visit to the Prambanan Temple site on Wednesday, stating that the revitalisation project would be completed before 2029. Modi remarked that Prabowo, a former soldier, is accustomed to planning strategies to achieve a goal, and he believes this personality will enable the restoration work to be completed faster than scheduled. “Today, my friend President Prabowo asked me to promise that we will finish this work before 2029, and that I must return to Indonesia to inaugurate this temple complex after the restoration is complete,” Modi said during a press statement. He affirmed that both parties would complete the project before 2029 and return for an inauguration marked by a grand celebration. The two nations had previously established a cooperation agreement to restore Prambanan under the Indonesia-India Collaborative Cultural Heritage Conservation programme. The initiative will focus on over 200 ancillary temples in the second courtyard of the complex, with a long-term cooperation period spanning from 2026 to 2036. The technical approach will involve LiDAR surveys, AI-based digital reconstruction, anastylosis methods, and digital documentation. The collaboration aims to achieve physical conservation of the site, stronger scientific documentation, improved area management, enhanced cultural cooperation, and the transfer of expertise between Indonesia and India.