Tourists dodge nuisances at Borobudur Temple

Tourists dodge nuisances at Borobudur Temple

YOGYAKARTA (JP): The government may have transformed the
Borobudur Temple complex in Central Java into a tourism park, but
other problems which intrude on visitors' comfort have arisen.

Take for instance a beggar who follows two foreign tourists
from the parking area to the ticket windows. "Give me some alms,
have pity on me," the beggar repeatedly entreats the visitors
while holding out his hand. One of the tourists, possibly wanting
to get rid of the nuisance, drops Rp 100 in the beggar's hand.

But it does not mean the annoyances will stop. On the way to
the ticket windows a group of hawkers and umbrella renters waylay
the visitors. They walk in step with the tourists and praise
their souvenirs.

"It is cheap, mister, only Rp 10,000," they say in broken
English.

The tourists show no interest in the offers, but the hawkers
surround the hapless tourists like ants on the sugar trail.

Tourists may feel relieved once they have passed ticket
control. But wait. A bevy of photographers operating within the
temple complex offer instant photographs simultaneously. Later
on, the tormented tourists continue their plight after the
exhausting climb of the temple steps. They are welcomed again by
hawkers who have not given up offering their wares. The hawkers
do not hesitate to chase any tourist who tries to circumvent
them.

"We are at odds to bring order to these activities," said
Yuwono Sri Suwito, director of operations and development of PT
Taman Wisata Candi Borobudur-Prambanan-Ratu Boko, a state-owned
company managing the Borobudur, Prambanan and Ratu Boko temples.

Suwito said the hawkers were a dilemma. The organizers wish to
offer an opportunity to local inhabitants to benefit from the
visitors to the temple, but the rules and regulations they have
made for the hawkers are not respected. The disorder disturbs the
tourists' enjoyment.

The number of hawkers has alarmingly grown to at least 600
roaming the grounds around the Borobudur Temple. "They destroy
the fences to enter the grounds to avoid detection by security,"
Suwito said.

The number of official kiosks within the complex, used as
souvenir shops and eating stalls, has already increased from 80
to 120. "The regional government should immediately take steps.
It should not only have financial considerations," said Suwito.

PT Taman Wisata, a state-owned company within the ministry of
tourism, post and telecommunications which, managed the temple
since July 15, 1980. The company has equipped the Borobudur
Temple with a Borobudur study center, an archeology museum, an
audiovisual center, a hotel, a children's' playground and
souvenir shops.

Researchers can make use of scientific data at the study
center, visitors can obtain information on the Borobudur Temple
at the audiovisual facility located east of the temple. PT Taman
Wisata also plans to build the Borobudur Multimedia Show Program
theater with the help of French technicians. The entertainment
facility is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia and resembles
the Superdome in Tokyo, Japan.

The objective of these supporting facilities is not only
tourism. This aims at diverting visitors from the temple,
alleviating the overcrowding of the temple grounds. The number of
foreign tourists visiting Borobudur shows an upward trend. At the
end of 1996 there were 3.3 million tourists, 6,200 people daily
on average, who visited the 85-hectare complex. They paid Rp
1,500 entrance fee each.

According to Suwito, it is feared the crowds of people on the
temple may alter the position of temple stones.

The Borobudur Temple management has reaped profits which have
increased annually, following an initial investment of Rp 80
billion from the government and the Overseas Economic Corporation
Fund (OECF) of Japan. The management recorded a Rp 428 million
profit in 1993, which increased to Rp 1.485 billion two years
later. In 1996, the management recorded a Rp 4.548 billion
profit.

The Borobudur Temple is presumed to have been built during the
Sailendra era in 800 A.D.. Its name is derived from byara
(temple) and beduhur (hill) in Sanskrit. In accordance with its
name, Borobudur was built on a hill with two million andesite
stones. The stones in the form of cubes are estimated to have
been taken from the slopes of Mount Merapi located east of the
temple.

When the temple was rediscovered in the Dutch colonial times
it was heavily damaged by natural elements. Dutch archeologist
Theodorus van Erp started renovations in 1907 and finished it in
1911. This work was still not at its perfect stage. Renovations
on a larger scale could only be done 60 years later in 1973 with
the use of high technology funded by the state budget and UNESCO.
This work took 10 years. This renovation is estimated to conserve
the Borobudur Temple for 1,000 years on the assumption there are
no natural disasters.

The management's concern is the visitors' level of
appreciation, which is still limited to a short stopover. Many
organized package deals for foreign tourists usually only reserve
one hour for a temple visit. "The tourists only listen to a short
explanation by a guide and take photographs. That is all," said
Suwito.