Visitors flashing their knees at Indonesia’s number one tourist attraction, the ancient Borobudur temple, will have to wear government-issue sarongs under a new plan to protect the site’s dignity.
Officials said tourists wearing shorts and mini-skirts would be politely asked to don a sarong for the duration of their visit to the Buddhist temple, erected between 750 and 850 on a verdant plain in central Java.
“When visitors enter a sacred place, they must show their respect. They shouldn’t wear shorts or mini-skirts because it’s impolite,” temple manager Purnomo Siswo Prasetyo told AFP.
“It’s like in Bali — when tourists visit temples there, they also have to do the same thing,” he said, adding that 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, he said.
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.
The temple has become a gold mine for the local economy, with some 2.5 million tourists visiting Borobudur last year. Indonesians pay 15,000 rupiah (US$1.60, NT$50) to enter the compound while foreigners are charged US$15 (NT$480).
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.(AFP)
印尼首屈一指的觀光勝地「婆羅浮屠佛塔」有了新規定，未來穿著露膝服裝的遊客必須圍上政府準備的沙龍裙，以維護該址的莊嚴。
官員表示，穿著短褲或迷你裙的遊客參觀婆羅浮屠時，會被禮貌地要求披上沙龍裙；建造於西元七五０年至八五０年間的婆羅浮屠佛塔，坐落於爪哇島中心的一片青翠草原上。
廟塔住持普爾諾莫．希斯沃．普拉賽尤告訴法新社：「遊客進入聖地時，必須展現對這個地方的尊重。他們不應該穿著短褲或迷你裙進來，因為這是無禮的行為。」
他說：「就像在峇里島一樣──遊客到當地寺廟參訪也必須遵守規矩。」他還說，之所以制定這些規定，是因為當地居民和遊客抱怨部份遊客的穿著不合宜。
他說，在為期一個月的勸導期間，遊客也將被要求穿上橡膠涼鞋，以免損壞廟塔裡的精緻石雕。
他說，用乾燥的班蘭葉編成的草鞋是對廟塔中的火山石損害最小的鞋子。
廟方目前還未提供這種草鞋，但他們已經向當地社區訂製，估計很快就能新增到服儀不整遊客須換穿的清單上了。
勸導期間換穿沙龍裙或涼鞋不另外收取費用，但普拉賽尤說，他不排除日後收費的可能性。
他說：「我們希望能藉此增加鄰近社區的工作機會，並促進經濟繁榮。」
婆羅浮塔已成為當地重要的經濟命脈，去年有約兩百五十萬名觀光客到此遊覽。印尼民眾進入廟塔須支付門票一萬五千盧比亞（一點六美元，新台幣五十元），外國遊客的門票則要價十五美元（新台幣四百八十元）。
十二世紀伊斯蘭教傳入爪哇島後，這座位於叢林中的婆羅浮屠「山廟」就被棄置、隱沒在荒煙漫草間了。
一八一四年，英國殖民貿易商湯馬士．史丹福．萊佛士爵士「重新發現」了這座佛塔，並在聯合國教科文組織的協助下將其復原。（法新社╱翻譯：袁星塵）
Photographer Franziska Stuenkel likes to take spontaneous urban shots, so she needs a nimble camera that is ready to go when inspiration strikes: her German-made Leica M11. “I have to be very quick and discreet,” said the Berlin-based artist who captures reflections of people walking past windows, their contours merging with the shapes behind the glass. Stuenkel’s compact Leica is the perfect camera for the job, the 51-year-old told AFP. Famous for its pocket-sized and retro-style devices, the Leica brand is celebrating a milestone as it marks 100 years since its first commercial camera was presented to the public. The
Picture a 45-foot-long animal with a 5-foot-long skull and 3-foot-long arms. It may not seem strange until you realize that a human with those proportions would be 6 feet tall with 5-inch arms. Although the Tyrannosaurus rex went extinct 65 million years ago, the mystery of its unusual body __1__ has fascinated scientists for over a century. Barnum Brown, the paleontologist who first discovered T. rex fossils, initially found it hard to believe that the tiny arms belonged to such a __2__ creature. One of his colleagues speculated that the short forelimbs might have been used to hold the
As global travel rebounds following the COVID-19 pa ndemic, the longstanding issue of overtourism has returned stronger than ever. Throughout 2024, numerous popular destinations worldwide struggled with tourist numbers that far exceeded their infrastructural and environmental capacities. Not only does this surge congest streets and pollute landscapes, but it also endangers cultural sites and disrupts the daily lives of residents. In response to the growing problem of “overtourism,” various nations have adopted diverse strategies, some of which have sparked controversy. Venice, Italy, has not hesitated to take bold action; since 2024, the city has implemented one of the
Dogs’ noses are incredibly keen. They can even detect changes in cortisol levels in human sweat and breath. Known as the “stress hormone,” cortisol increases when humans are under pressure. Recent research indicates that the smell of human stress can influence a dog’s behavior and emotions. In the study, human volunteers were exposed to the stressful tasks of preparing and delivering a speech on the spot and then solving math problems. __1__ Researchers collected sweat and breath samples from the volunteers on pieces of cloth during both their stressful and restful states. Meanwhile, other researchers worked with 18
RSS