News
The Prince visits the Indonesian province of Yogyakarta
4th November 2008
On the last day of The Prince of Wales’s visit to South East Asia, His Royal Highness visited the Indonesian province of Yogyakarta on the island of Java.
The Prince was welcomed to the Kraton Palace, the official home of the Sultan of Yogyakarta, by His Excellency Sri Sultan Hamengkubowono, and they met with academics, PhD and MA students researching aspects of interfaith issues, religion and local culture at Yogyakarta's most prestigious universtiy, Universitas Gajah Mada.
Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country in the world but it also has significant numbers of other faiths including Buddhists, Christians and Hindus.
Professor Bernard Adeney-Risakotta, director of the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies, said: "The Prince said his impression of Indonesia was that there was a lot more interfaith understanding and co-operation than in other parts of the world.
"He felt that Indonesia has something to teach other countries in terms of relations between Muslims and Christians."
The Prince of Wales’s visit to the Kraton Palace concluded with him and the Sultan viewing displays of traditional handicraft, at which Yogjakarta excels, before seeing a cultural dance performance.
Afterwards, The Prince of Wales travelled to a nearby Islamic school, Pondok Pesantren Krapyak, to gain an understanding of the students’ views on the nature of religious debate in Indonesia.
The Prince was greeted by dozens of young girls in traditional head scarves as he walked down a narrow path that led to the school's main buildings.
The visit was the first The Prince has made to a madrassah or pesantren, an Islamic school, and something he is said to have wanted to do after a scheduled tour of one in Pakistan, two years ago, was postponed after a terrorist attack in the country.
The Pesantren is part of a British Council initiative to link 50 Indonesian schools with UK institutions and its twin is the Millais School in Horsham, West Sussex.
The Council is hoping the contact and other measures, like the setting up of an English language lab and internet facilities, will make the Islamic institution open up to positive outside influences.
The Prince of Wales’s final stop in his 10-day tour was Indonesia's most impressive monument, the Borobudur Temple.
The Prince walked up the steep steps to the top level of the 113ft high Buddhist shrine, close to Yogyakarta, which was built in the 9th century.
It lay buried for centuries under volcanic ash from the nearby Mount Merapi volcano but was rediscovered in 1814 by British colonial administrator Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles.
If features more than 500 Buddha statues and from its summit gives spectacular views of mountain ranges and valleys.