UNS – In order to strengthen the commitment as a Fortress Campus of Pancasila, Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) and Indonesian Confucians Council (MAKIN) Surakarta officially held the groundbreaking to mark the construction of the UNS Confucian temple. The ceremony was held on Thursday (01/24/2019). Â
Beforehand, the existence of the temple as a place for Confucians to worship was not available yet. However, the increasing number of Confucian students every year led the realization of the construction of the Confucian temple in UNS.
“Although the number of Confucian students is not as many as the other religions, I appreciate the UNS’ commitment to provide a Confucian temple in the campus,” Aji Chandra said as one of the administrators in MAKIN Surakarta.
“The plan to build a Confucian temple in UNS has been offered since a half year ago. After following up, we found that a lot of people wanted to participate in establishing this temple,” he added.
In his speech, Rector of UNS, Prof. Ravik Karsidi said that the existence of the temple shows the inclusive attitude of UNS. After the establishment of the temple, Karsidi also hoped that UNS would be a role model for other universities to emulate the UNS commitment as a Guardian of Pluralism. According to him, there has not been any state university in Indonesia, except UNS, which is able to provide the complete six worship places for the students.
The name of the temple which will be built soon is Sinar Kebajikan Confucian Temple, or Khongcu Bio in Chinese. This temple will be located between the Bhuana Agung Saraswati Hindu Temple and the Bodhisasana Buddhist Temple.  The structure construction of the Sinar Kebajikan Confucian Temple is targeted to be finished within two months. Humas UNS – Yef/Asl