PM Modi's Diplomatic Visit To Indonesia: President Prabowo Subianto In Conversation To Revive Ancient Prambanan Shrine

The country’s Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto together launched an India-backed restoration project at the Prambanan Temple Complex this Wednesday. It turned a routine state visit into a display of shared civilizational heritage between the two nations.

The nearly thousand-year-old UNESCO World Heritage site, built in honour of the Hindu Trimurti- Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh. It later became the backdrop for one of the more personal moments of the Indian PM’s Southeast Asia tour. Touring the temple complex with Prabowo, the Prime Minister described feeling a deep spiritual familiarity, saying the atmosphere carried the same cultural fragrance he associates with India itself.

Modi drew a striking parallel between his experiences at Kailash Mansarovar and his visit to Prambanan, noting that the chanting of the Mahamrityunjaya mantra and hailing Om Namah Shivaya at the Indonesian site left him deeply moved.

The Prime Minister also reflected on his own lifelong ties to Shiva-related pilgrimage sites, from Hatkeshwar Mahadev near his birthplace of Vadnagar, to the Somnath Jyotirlinga in Gujarat, to Kashi Vishwanath in his parliamentary constituency of Varanasi. He linked this personal history to his government's broader push to restore Indian heritage sites, citing the reconstruction of Kedarnath and the Mahakal corridor in Ujjain as parallels to the Prambanan project.

Modi thanked Indonesia for safeguarding the roughly 1,200-year-old complex over the centuries, calling it an achievement worthy of admiration, and congratulated the Indonesian people and their rulers, past and present, for its preservation.

He expressed confidence that the restoration would draw a fresh wave of Indian tourists, describing Prambanan as Southeast Asia's second-largest symbol of India's cultural legacy. Modi said he personally performed rituals at the temple, which houses idols of Shiva, Durga, and Ganesha, according to traditional scripture, calling the experience a spiritually significant moment in his own life.

In a lighter aside, Modi revealed that Prabowo had extracted a promise from him: that the restoration work would be completed before 2029, with Modi committing to return for the celebrations once it is done.

The PM also thanked Prabowo warmly for his hospitality throughout the visit, praising the meticulous planning behind the welcome extended to him, and conveyed gratitude on behalf of India's 140 crore citizens.

Earlier, en route to the temple from Yogyakarta aboard a helicopter, Modi shared a dramatic aerial photograph of the complex on social media, captioning it simply, "The majestic Prambanan Temple!"

The event marks a high point in India's Act East policy, reinforcing New Delhi's use of shared cultural and religious heritage as a tool of diplomatic outreach across Southeast Asia. The restoration initiative is expected to strengthen bilateral ties between the two countries while spotlighting centuries-old links between Indian civilisation and the Indonesian archipelago.