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 6.07.2012 Guinness World Records recently named Borobudur temple in the Central Java town of Magelang as the world’s largest Buddhist temple, an Indonesian official said on Wednesday. “Borobudur has been officially recognized by Guinness World Records in London, UK, as the world’s largest Buddhist archeological temple; under claim number 396-198,” said Purnomo Siswoprasetjo, the director of Borobudur-Prambanan tourism management. “From now on, Borobudur temple is officially one of the Guinness World Records title holders,” he added. Purnomo said Guinness put Borobudur on its records list on June 27, and that his office received an official certificate from Guinness on the new honor. The registration process for the granting of the title took some three months to complete, he added. “We hope this means more support and benefits, especially for the marketing and promotion [of Borobudur] at the international level.” On its website guinnessworldrecords.com, Guinness states: “The largest Buddhist temple in the world is Borobudur, near Yogyakarta, Central Java, Indonesia, built between AD 750 and 842.” It says the 60,000-cubic-meter stone structure stands 34.5 meters tall, with its base measuring 123 by 123 meters. Borobudur was listed as a Unesco World Heritage site in 1991. The temple has long been a major tourist attraction for Central Java and Yogyakarta. Purnomo said in 2011 alone it drew 250,000 visitors, an increase of 15 percent from the previous year. In the first quarter of 2012, the number of visitors was up by 16 percent compared with the figure over the same period last year. Purnomo said his office had also registered Prambanan temple, which is situated on the border of Central Java and Yogyakarta, as the world’s largest Hindu temple. The result of that submission is pending verification from Guinness. The Jakarta Globe |
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