Jakarta, VOI News - Visitors flashing their knees at Indonesia’s number-one tourist attraction, the ancient Borobudur temple, will have to wear Batik sarongs under a new plan to protect the site’s dignity. Temple manager Purnomo Siswo Prasetyo told AFP on Wednesday tourists wearing shorts and mini-skirts would be politely asked to don a sarong for the duration of their visit to the Buddhist temple in central Java. He said the rules were put in place after locals and visitors complained about the attire of some tourists.

During a month-long trial, tourists will also be required to wear rubber sandals to avoid damaging the temple’s intricately carved stonework. The optimal footwear to ensure as little damage as possible is done to the temple’s volcanic stones is made of woven dried pandanus leaves, he said. Such items were not yet available but they had been ordered from the local community and could soon be added to the list of things inappropriately attired tourists will have to wear.

No fee would be charged for use of the sarongs and sandals during the trial, but Prasetyo said he could not rule out a charge at a later date. “We hope this will open up job opportunities for surrounding communities and lead to economic growth,” he said.

Some 2.5 million tourists visited Borobudur last year. Indonesians pay 15,000 rupiah (US$1.60) to enter the compound while foreigners are charged 15 dollars.

As Islam spread through Java after the 12th century, the “temple mountain” of Borobudur was abandoned and lost to the jungle. It was “rediscovered” in 1814 by English colonial trader Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles and was restored with the help of UNESCO in the 1970s. kompas. lpp RRI (rini)

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