Embassy of India
Jakarta
Jakarta
PRESS RELEASE
The bust of Indian Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore was unveiled
today i.e. 26th November 2012 in a grand ceremony against the backdrop
of the majestic Borobudur Temple at Yogyakarta by Mr. Gurjit Singh,
Ambassador of India to Indonesia and ASEAN, and Mrs. Listyowati,
Director of South and Central Asia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Republic of Indonesia.
The event was one of the main highlights of the ASEAN-India Car Rally
2012 which kicked off at Yogyakarta earlier today. Borobudur Temple,
one of the world’s greatest ancient monument and UNESCO world heritage
building, is the largest Buddhist temple complex in the world dating
back to the 9th century. 124 participants of the Car Rally also
witnessed the ceremony.
In his remarks at the unveiling ceremony, Ambassador Gurjit Singh
said that the Tagore’s bust has been placed at the premises of the most
iconic monument of Indonesia which reflects the closeness of our ties
and importance both our great countries accord to the ideas and vision
of Tagore. He said that Tagore was a revered cultural figure, a
spokesman of the East. As an enlightened soul he remained in a
continuous journey of search and quest to generate awareness among
diverse entities and races. Tagore’s journey to the Indonesian
archipelago was one of his ongoing discoveries of an “Asian Identity”
which belonged to a common cradle of civilization.
The bronze bust which has been sculpted in India by Mr. Janak Jhankar
Nazary, Professor of Art History in Viswa Bharti and gifted by the
Indian Ministry of Culture commemorates the visit of Rabindranath Tagore
to Indonesia in 1927 where he also planted a sapling at the Borobudur
Temple and sitting on the steps of this grand temple wrote a poem “To
Jawa” expressing his great love for this island.
Tagore visited Indonesia to discover Indian culture in Southeast Asia
and promote Asian cultural identity. He visited Belawan, Batavia,
Surabaya, Solo, Yogyakarta, Bali and Bandung and his visit was mainly to
connect with the intellect and culture of the region and to mobilize
support for his world university “Vishwa Bharati”. In the process, the
multi faceted artist in Tagore discovered many strands of fine arts,
which he carried back and incorporated in the curriculum of “Vishwa
Bharati”. While in Java, his companions also learnt the process of Batik
printing which was later taught in Shantinikentan. Tagore also
introduced a style of costumes for dance recitals in Rabindra-nritya
which was influenced by Javanese costumes. During his visit here, he
also came in contact with educationists and worked out a effective
exchange of scholars, students and artists between Indonesia and his
university in Shantiniketan.