Ullen Sentalu Museum

Ullen Sentalu is a Javanese art and culture museum established in 1994. The structure of the museum is inspired a lot by European architecture. Ullen Sentalu contains the history about the lives of the sons and daughters from the palace. The history contains their clothing, letters, habits and more.

Long ago, Jogja was divided into 4 kingdoms. Kasultanan and Pakualaman from Jogja, and Kasulnanan Surakarta and Mampunegaraan from Solo.

The first part of the museum is a underground, long hallway. There are gamelan music as well as paintings of dancers such as the beautiful princess Nurul who went to Holland in 1937 to dance for the royal wedding, Widaninggar the Chinese princess and Rengganis the Javanese princess. 

There were also paintings of the daughters and sons of the palace. The most special painting is the painting whose eyes will always follow you from any angle you stand. A 3D technique is used. Another one is the Queen of Papualaman 8 who wore the lobster skirt named Urang Ayu.

After the long hallway, we are brought into the 'maze.' One of the rooms showed letters from Princess Tineke's family and friends because they felt sad for Tineke whose love was forbidden because her mother disapproved.

After the letters, we were brought to see collection of the princesses' original clothes. There, the difference between Solo and Jogja's batik was showed. In Solo, the batik are golden-brown in color and the pattern are detailed whereas in Jogja, the batik is brighter with a basic color of white.

Another story is the marriage of Solo King 10 with Queen Mas. They had a 32 years age gap. Pakubuwono 10 used to be a thin person but he purposely grew fat so that he could show all his medals.

After the maze, we were led to the park in which the guide explained a few of the Hindu Gods before bringing us to hall with paintings and sculptures. One of the paintings was Princess Diana and Prince Charles who visited Jogja back then. 

The tour ended after the hall and photos were allowed in front of the diagonal sculpture. Ullen Sentalu museum is the best Indonesian museum that I have been to. The museum showed lives of the past in great detail and the architecture was fascinating. 

Prambanan

Prambanan is a group of Hindu temples meaning many priest 'parabrahmana' built in the 9th century. It is founded in 1733 by a Holland archeologist all in ruin because when they built the temple, they didn't use cement but by interlocking the stones.

There are 240 temples but only 18 temples have been restored. The main three temples of Prambanan are Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu.

Outside Shiva's temple

Shiva is the biggest temple with 4 statues in it: Shiva Mahadewa, Shiva Mahaguru, Ganesh (Shiva's son) and Durga (Shiva's wife).

Shiva is the most important God to the Hindus explaining why it's located in the middle and is the largest temple of all. He destroys the bad things and transform it into good.

Shiva's transportation is Nandi the cow.

In the north of Shiva temple is the Vishnu. Vishnu is the supreme God. He is the observer and the preserver. Vishnu's transportation is the garuda bird. The temple was restored from 1982 to 1991.

And in the south of Shiva temple is Brahma temple. Brahma's transportation is the swan. Brahma is God of the creator. He has 4 heads and 4 arms symbolizing the elements of life - earth, water, fire, air. His temple was restored from 1978 to 1987.

There are 2 small guardian temples: Kelir and Pathok. They are built to stop evil spirits from entering.

Hindu religion affected the building of Prambanan in such a way that the Prambanan temples are facing east, showing a sign of influence of Shivaism. It is no wonder that Shiva is the largest temple standing in the middle. In front of the Trimutri towers are temples for the transport of each respective God.

It is important to preserve Prambanan because it shows about our history. This temple gives many answers about the past and gives us a message. It is also a very important place to the Hindu religion.

Borobudur

Borobudur is a Javanese writing: boro meaning monastery and budur meaning above. With a height of 35m, Borobudur is the most important place to Buddhists. Borobudur is built in a square shape and has a total of 504 Buddha statues, 106 cm in size.

The Borobodur panels depict the teachings of Buddhism. The galleries are built to guide Buddhists as they move upward, reaching closer to Nirvana. Each level represents a higher level of consciousness. Therefore, Borobudur is a 3D guide to enlightenment. The Gupta architecture reflects India's influence to Indonesia in the past showing that Buddhist was a great empire back then in Central Java.

All of the statues sits in a lotus position with 6 different hand positions. The first position faces east with the right hand closed signifying calling the Earth as witness. The second faces south with hands open which means giving. The third faces west meaning meditation. The fourth faces north which signifies reassurance. The fifth means teaching and the last is the circle of life.

Borobudur was built in the 8th century and was founded in 1814, after being forgotten for almost 800 years. It was a great Buddhist empire but in the 9th century, the Buddhist moved due to the internal war and the volcanic eruption in 1006. When the people found Borobudur, the temple was buried and was destroyed because the stones were simply stacked and was not strong. Ever since 1991, UNESCO claimed Borobudur as a world heritage site and now it is secured.

The stairway that brings you to Nirvana

Water drainage system

Borobudur has 9 levels of which 6 are squared and 3 are circular. The 9 levels of Borobudur are categorized into 3 divisions. The first level represents Kamadathu (world of desire), the second to the seventh level represents Rupadhatu (world of forms) and the last two levels represent Arupadathu (formless world).

The first level shows reliefs of desire but most of the reliefs are covered with stones to support the monument and because it contains ponographic content.

On the first level, there's a total of 160 desires of which 52 are positive attitudes and 108 are negative attitudes.

Narrow corridor with reliefs of Buddha's story

Scene of when Buddha was born

The second level shows the life of Buddha. Buddha was born on 524 BC in Lumbini Garden, Kathmandu. Before he was born as human, Buddha was born in many kinds of animal form. Immediately, when Sidharta was born, he could stand up, speak and walk 7 steps with a lotus flower growing out of each step and was given the name Sidharta Gautama. He then became Buddha after meditating under a tree.

In total, there are 72 stupas. The first item of a stupa is the close of monk, second is the lotus flower, third is the upside down rice bowl and last is a walking stick. The rice bowl and the walking stick came from Buddha's life after he was aware of suffering and when he died.

The diamond-shaped holes in the stupas symbolize instability while the square holes symbolize stability.

The biggest stupa on top of Borobudur contains no hole and it is empty unlike the rest of the stupas because Buddhists believe that no one is perfect.

Now, Borobudur is honored not only because it is a masterpiece of Buddhist architecture but also because it shows an outstanding example of Indonesia's art and architecture from the 8th century. It is now protected so that no one will be able to steal and because it is an extremely important place for Buddhists.

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Borobudur was the place that gave me a sense of satisfaction and joy. I was happy to find out about why the temple was built in such a way, what the story is behind the reliefs, as well as a lot of knowledge into Buddhist which was very captivating and fascinating. Never did I know why some of the stupas had diamond shaped holes or squared holes or why was there a big, empty stupa in the center if I had not been to Borobudur. Furthermore, before visiting Borobudur, I have always thought that Borobudur was circular shaped.

Taman Sari Water Castle

Taman Sari Water Castle was built originally in 1756 by Sultan no.1 and a Portugese architect. It is a part of the Sultan's palace. The water castle was used by Sultan no. 1-3 for recreation until Merapi erupted 1812. Because of the eruption, the water castle was damaged and all the natural spring water was gone and it was not rebuilt until 2004 when Taman Sari received support from the world bank and the Portugese.

The current entrance of Taman Sari was the back entrance which led to a compound where royal ceremonies or performances were held. The small pavilions called Sekawan Building was used for the musicians to play gamelan music.

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There are 3 swimming pools in the water castle. Umbul Pamujar was used by the Sultan's children, Umbul Kuras was used by the wives, Umbul Binangun by the Sultan. Umbul Pamujar and Umbul Kuras (above photo) is located outside while Umbul Binangun is a private pool.

The first 3 Sultans had around 40 wives. From the tower, he would choose the "right" one to spend time with in the Umbul Kuras pool.

The tower has a bed room and a changing room. Under the bed, they would burn rates (traditional perfume) to get an aromatic smell.

The main gate of Taman Sari is called Gapuro Agung. The Sultan came in through the main gate because it is connected to the Sultan's palace. However, it is closed now because village folks working for the Keraton live there. There are about 300 to 400 families living in the 10 hectares area.

Keraton Jogja

Yogyakarta is a city located in Central Java, Indonesia. Widely known for its richness in culture and history, indeed, Jogja is the heart of Javanese culture. Culture plays an important role for the people there, and thus, Jogja's culture is well preserved and is embodied in their daily life.

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Keraton Jogja is one of Yogyakarta's historical site. It was built in 1756 and it is where the current Sultan lives. The palace buildings are decorated intricately inspired by the Javanese culture with a touch of Hinduism and Islamic influences.  In Keraton Jogja, there is a white main gate guarded by two guardian statues in each side. Left and right. The left guards the good and the right guards the evil.

Just beside the white gate is a 'theatre' which keeps traditional music. It is used once a year during the Muhammad Celebration. The gamelan is 300 years old.

There are a lot of royal objects such as a small merit that is used to carry wedding gifts for the bride (upper left), a chair for make up (upper right), and a cage (lower left). The cage is used for the baby where they would put books, jewelry and cosmetics. If the baby choose the books, it would mean that he is intelligent, jewelry would mean wealth and cosmetics would mean handsome or pretty. Another is a wooden structure that was build and used for circumcision ceremonies (lower right).

This is the kingdom's logo. The crown of the king symbolize power, earrings wisdom, wings freedom and the Javanese writing is Hamkuborno, the current Sultan's name.

Walking through the white gate would lead to a large compound of the palace.
To the left is a music pavilion that is used to play Western music (upper left) as well as a waiting room used for the dancers called the bangsal kotak (upper right). To the right is a yellow building and it is the private house for the King (lower left) and just in front is a golden pavilion (lower right) used as a reception hall to receive official guests, ceremonies and official events.

Behind the bangsal kotak is the house of musicians. There, a large pavilion stood used for traditional dance training every Sunday morning as well as a set of more traditional instruments to accompany the dancers.

The golden museum showcases the Sultan's antique collections such as vases, clocks, royal plates, lamps and so on from parts of the world.

Some antiques from the museum:

The sultan's wife and 4 daughters.

The biggest image above is one of the light bulbs used many years ago. The potteries and plates are gifts from different parts of the world.

Swan - Attention | Deer - Intelligence | Cock - Bravery | Peacock - Dignity

Items belongs to the previous Sultan

 Previous Sultan's family tree

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Yogyakarta has a strong sense of hierarchy. There are 3 social classes in the past. First is the wong cilia (low rank community) referring to agriculture workers. Second is the abdi dalem, the officials. And third is the noble class. Now, it is divided into 2 - village folks and city workers. Social hierarchy place an important role because it influence the interaction between the society.

For example, in marriage, the background and descendant of the family plays an important role. In the past the children of the King should marry someone of a royal blood. Now, the daughters of the current Sultan can marry anyone.