M

ini skirts might be sexy, but they are becoming increasingly unfashionable at Javanese temples.

After Borobudur Temple recently required visitors wearing mini skirts and shorts to wrap themselves with sarongs provided by the temple management, other temples, such as the Prambanan and Ratu Boko temples, will enforce similar ban soon.

The management company in charge of the temples, PT Borobudur, Prambanan and Ratu Boko Temples Recreation Park *TWC BP & RB*, decided to impose the ban in hopes of increasing visitors' respect toward the temples as important historical sites inherited from ancestors as well as a move to preserve the sites.

Reportedly, many visitors seem careless about the temple's preservation, with some climbing up the stupas to take pictures, which can inflict damage.

"By wearing decent clothing, we intend to encourage visitors to respect the priceless heritage sites," said the company's president director Purnomo Siswoprasetyo on Thursday.

The temple management is conducting a trial run on the ban at Borobudur temple from Feb. 1 until March.

Similar trial runs are planned at Prambanan and Rabu Boko temples this month at the latest.

Purnomo told The Jakarta Post that the evaluation of the first three days of the trial run at Borobudur temple has shown many positive sides.

He said that following the ban, visitors wearing shorts and skirts were eager to abide and willingly wrapped themselves with the sarongs.

"Many of the visitors have also shown more respect," Purnomo said.

"They no longer sit on the stupas and litter the temple compound.

"The good result encourages us to apply the same policy at the Prambanan and Ratu Boko temples.

"We could not say when exactly, but it will be in the near future."

However, he said that positive effects of the trial run mostly took place during quiet days, or when around 3,000 visitors visited the temple.

"For visitors of more than 10,000 per day, we will have to evaluate it next Saturday and Sunday."

When questioned about the response from domestic visitors on the ban, he said that the visitors would not be asked to leave or buy clothing because the management would lend them sarongs for free.

In the initial stage, or during the trial run, the temple park management has prepared around 2,000 batik sarongs bought from the Beringharjo market in Yogyakarta.

It has also prepared and would lend scarves and rubber sandals to visitors for free.

Purnomo said his management was currently calculating the total operational costs if the policy was going to be put into effect.