Borobudur: World’s largest Buddhist temple to get more expensive

(CNN) — Visiting the world’s largest Buddhist temple is about to get expensive.

According to the new rules, foreigners will need to be accompanied by a local guide at all times while visiting Borobudur. There were also plans to introduce electric shuttle buses for tourists to travel around the temple and neighboring vicinities.

“We do this to create new jobs while growing a sense of belonging in this region so that a sense of responsibility for the historical sites can continue to thrive in the future’s younger generation,” Luhut said.

“We are taking these [steps] solely for the sake of preserving the rich history and culture of the archipelago.”

Located near Yogyakarta city in Indonesia’s Central Java province, Borobudur is believed to have been built in the 9th century and has been preserved through several restorations. It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982 and attracted tens of thousands of visitors daily before the pandemic hit.

With nine stacked platforms topped by a grand central dome surrounded by sitting Buddha statues, the temple is a notable example of Javanese Buddhist architecture.

Borobudur is often compared to another sprawling religious site, Angkor Wat. The Cambodian temple complex has a different style and history, but also requires all foreigners to be accompanied by government-licensed guides and periodically raises the prices of tickets for non-Cambodians.

Stuart McDonald, co-founder of Travelfish, a travel website about Southeast Asia, highlighted that foreign travelers accounted for only a “tiny minority” of Borobudur’s visitors. “The significance of this price hike has come out of the blue and seems somewhat ill considered,” McDonald said.

“Borobudur is a key attraction in Indonesia and frequently cited as a highlight of Java … so one should be wary of overstating the importance of foreign tourists to the financial viability of Borobudur.

“The more important question might be [whether] foreign travelers will reduce their time in Yogyakarta, or remove the city entirely from their travel plans,” he continued. “I would cautiously say yes. The ripple effect could be significant.”

But will Borobudur see the same effect?

Locals working in the vicinity, like Ade Wijasto, doubt it. “The increase in ticket prices will only deter people from visiting Borobudur,” Ade, a tour guide, told CNN, adding that many Borobudur guides had already lost huge amounts of income due to the lack of tourists during the pandemic.

“Many of us are still recovering,” he said. “We thought that the reopening of Borobudur would be good news, but [the government] has only made things worse.”