No damage found at Borobudur Temple

Archaeologists have not found any signs of damage at Borobudur Temple caused by the layer of Merapi volcanic ash blanketing it.

However, Yunus Satrio Atmojo, the director of ancient artifacts at the Culture and Tourism Ministry, said archaeological experts were concerned the temple's stone would weather faster due to the acidity of the ash.

“This [cleaning off the volcanic ash] requires serious handling over a long process,” he said, as reported by Antara newswire.

He said archaeologists had prepared 1 kilometer of plastic sheet to cover areas of the temple once they had been cleaned to prevent them from being covered in ash again.

Volunteers have cleaned the trees surrounding the temple from volcanic ash to prevent the ash from being blown on to the temple, he said.

The clean-up, he continued, would be carried out in steps and would clean out ash from the temple's drainage system.