Some 3,000 participants will take part in the National Hindu Sacred Arts Festival in Surakarta, which commences on Tuesday.

"The three-day festival will kick off with a carnival starting from the Kotabarat Field, the Jl. Slamet Riyadi main thoroughfare and ends at the Surakarta city hall," said event organizer spokesman Ida Bagus Komang on Monday.

Participants will carry statues of the Prambanan Temple and Dewi Saraswati, symbol of knowledge, created by artisan KRT Suparman and his colleagues. The statues took a month to build and each cost around Rp 30 million (about US$3,000). The statue of Prambanan Temple stands 4 meters tall.

The carnival will also include participants wearing traditional attire and carrying flags, three-tier umbrellas, two mounts, Hindu religious paraphernalia and trucks carrying the Prambanan temple and Dewi Saraswati statues.

As many as 10 contingents from East Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta, West Java, Jakarta, Banten, Lampung, South Sumatra, Bali, and West Nusa Tenggara will feature in the festival.

The festival will also display traditional performances, such as karawitan, pokal, and the Rejang and Topeng Sidakarya dance performances.

Hindu Sacred Arts Festival competitions will be held at the Indonesian Arts Institute's (ISI) theater hall, while the workshop and closing ceremony will be held at ISI's common hall on the closing day, Thursday.

"The festival is held once every three years. We have chosen Surakarta as the host as part of the city's efforts to become a cultural and tourism city," said Komang.

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