Tagore's bust unveiled at Buddhist temple in Indonesia

The bust was unveiled at a grand ceremony at the temple attended by Gurjit Singh, Ambassador of India to Indonesia and ASEAN, and 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.

In his remarks at the unveiling ceremony, 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.

The bronze bust which has been sculpted in India Janak Jhankar Nazary, Professor of Art History in Viswa Bharti was gifted by the Indian Ministry of Culture commemorates Tagore's visit to Indonesia in 1927.

Tagore had 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 the country, Indian Embassy here said in a statement.

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 mobilise support for his world university 'Vishwa Bharati', it said.