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ndonesia and its maritime neighbor India have enjoyed cultural and economic ties for more than two millennia. In an effort to further strengthen those links, the governments of Indonesia and India will present a performance of the Ramayana at Prambanan Temple near Yogyakarta on Wednesday and Thursday.

“This is the first time that Indian artists will team up with Indonesian artists to perform the Ramayana. So we can expect a spectacular event,” Zahur Zaidi, the new director of Jawaharlal Nehru Indian Cultural Center, said in Jakarta.

The Ramayana, the great Hindu epic, is popular in many Asian countries, including Indonesia and India.

The two-day cultural extravaganza, according to the Indonesian Foreign Ministry, was organized to mark 60 years of diplomatic relations between the nations.

“It was also as part of the both countries’ Arrangement of Cultural Exchange Program 2011-2014 agreement, which was signed on Jan. 25, 2011,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on its website.

Members of Prambanan’s Sandra Tari Ramyana troupe and 25 members of the Brij Lok Kala Manch Ramlila troupe from India would perform the dance while narrating the full story of the Ramayana, the ministry said.

Around 1,000 people, mostly members of the diplomatic community, the local Indian community, government officials from both countries and local cultural personalities, are expected to attend the performance on the first day.