Jakarta, The Asian Games flame arrived in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta on Wednesday with a torch relay run planned to circle around the city before being handed over to President Joko Widodo on Independence Day on August 17.
The Asiad flame entered Jakarta through East Jakarta-West Java province’s border town of Bogor earlier in the day in a ceremony which featured the torching of a mini cauldron with the historical flame in Jakarta eastern municipality.
Through a series of relay runs, the flame was scheduled to pass through landmark places and tourism spots in each of Jakarta’s east, south, north, west and central municipalities, reports Xinhua news agency.
The Asiad flame’s cross-nation relay began from Yogyakarta province on July 18.
The flame was lit in India’s Dhyan Chand Stadium in New Delhi that hosted the first Asian Games in 1951. It arrived in Yogyakarta airport after being flown from New Delhi on July 15.
Before being lit in the Asian Games opening ceremony on August 18, the flame will be kept in Indonesia’s presidential palace.
The official opening of the 18th Asian Games themed “Energy of Asia” will be held in the Jakarta sports compound of Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) that will also host part of the events in the upcoming Asiad.
