THE TRADITIONAL INHERITANCE MUSEUM

The religious and ancestor-oriented Indonesian people are inseparable from a wide range of articles of inheritance around them. Literally,the articles are material goods or ancestral objects passed on from generation to generation. Most ancestral articles demand a special treatment reflecting the cultural system of their people. The making and using of, and caring for the items require specific steps to follow. 

 

The wide variety of traditional article of inheritance and the philosophical meaning within the article are closely related to the belief system and lifestyle of a group of people. A traditional article of inheritance is often considered as a work of art of great value. Therefore, the Traditional Inheritance Museum in Taman Mini “Indonesia Indah” completes another side of the priceless culture of Indonesia.

The museum of 1,535 square meters out-lines a shape of pentagon cut sideways. The interior design is based on specific characteristics of material, regions and periods of making and use of the traditional articles. Today, apart from spears and swords, the museum’s display is dominated by keris, daggers with a wavy blade, of many different types, shapes, place of origin, and era. Undeniably, the daggers and other traditional weapons are common or are treated as traditional inheritance.

Keris is the traditional weapon found in nearly all regions in Indonesia. Besides being highly-valuable cultural artifacts, most keris have magic-religious values. The famed adornment of pattern that a keris has, or widely known as ‘tosan aji’ is believed to possess a specific magical substance.

The keris collection in the Traditional Inheritance Museum is put on display in several rooms. In the Nusantara Traditional Inheritance Room, a collection of traditional inheritance types from all over Indonesia is on display. Another room is the Keris Interior Room which is divided into the  Warangka Room, the Keris Tangguh room, the Keris Dapur room, and the Keris Pamor room.

In addition to display events and management of about 5,000 collection of traditional inheritance that will possibly get higher, the Traditional Inheritance museum holds other events, such as, keris maintenance events, called jamasan, expos, and workshops that the public can participate in.         

The Komodo Fauna Museum of Indonesia

For those who are prehistoric animal enthusiasts, the Komodo Museum is the place that one does not want to miss. In this museum, one can find out in detail the origins of this particular predator.

The Komodo Museum is located on the Taman Mini Indonesia Indah complex. Physically the museum building is the largest animal-looking building in Indonesia. It measures in at 72 meters long, 25 m wide, and 23 m high. The exhibition rooms that include hallways that comprise a ground floorof 800 square meters and the first floor of 400 square meters. In the backside there is a small room used as office and when required, a film showing theater for about 30 people.

The Komodo Fauna Museum

Indonesia Exhibition uncovers a wide range of classes and species of animals in Indonesia. The exhibition is organized in such a way that complies with the habitat distribution patterns and wildlife. In the museum, people can enjoy an exhibit of fauna groups, such as, mollusks or snails, crabs, reptiles and amphibians. On the other hand, there are topographic lines beginning from deep sea level to highest mountaintops.

Outside the building, people can further learn about the animal variety in the form of a park. The park specifically features the reptiles. People can learn about three major reptile families: lizard and snakes, turtles, and crocodiles. Most f the animal groups found here are Indonesian native animals. Some carrying their own uniqueness are those from outside Indonesia, such as : turtles, alligators from North America, and iguanas from South America.

Touch Park is a section especially provided for visitors to be able to learn reptiles more closely and comfortably. Apart from being able to see closely the variety of reptiles, visitors can also play with snakes and lizard. Children may run around freely chasing after the turtles.

In Touch Park the visitors may carry, together with at least 10 other people, a giant python measuring at 8 meters and weighing in at 100 kilograms. The snake is very tame, and is the longest tame snake in three Indonesian Provinces. Other interesting section in the Reptile Park is the four-meter king cobra. There is also the four-legged snake, that is feared by the local people in Papua. Here in Touch Park visitors can touch the snake.

The other section includes the variety of frogs or amphibians. There are many interesting frogs in Indonesia. Unfortunately, people give very little attention to frogs mostly because they are often considered as disgusting creatures.

From the west to the east from the coastlines to the mountains’ is the theme made as the basic philosophy of the Indonesian animal kingdom exhibit. From the west to the east suggest the map of the animal kingdom from Sumatra to west Papua, featuring the spread of the animals. From the coastlines to the mountain reflects the order of habitat where the animal species live, which is from the deep sea to the high mountains.

The exhibit also focuses on both invertebraes and mammals, which highlights groups and families of animals. With regards of mammals, the Indonesian Fauna Museum Komodo brings together the species. The endangered species, such as, tiger, elephant, and bear, are highlighted in the museum. The reptiles, such as, lizards, snakes, and turtles, are featured in a separate section.

For students. The animal exhibits are a learning facility to enhance knowledge about the animal kingdom of Indonesia. In addition to the exhibits and watching the films, the visitors can gain more knowledge about the animals in general, and those of Indonesia, in particular.    

THE WAYANG MUSEUM

The Wayang Museum building has gone through many changes. Influenced by the classic European or colonial architecture, the building was first built in 1640 as a church called de Oude Hollandse Kerk. In 1732 it was renovated and changed its name to de nieuw Hollandse Kerk. The church building was once destroyed completely because of an earthquake. But was then rebuilt by the Bataviasche Genootshap van Kunsten en Wetenscappen. The building was later turned over to Stichting Oud Batavia on December 22^nd , in 1939 and was made a museum called Oude Bataviasche Museum.

In 1957, the building was relinquished to the Association of Indonesia Culture, On September 17^th, 1962 the building was given to the State Department of Education and Culture, who subsequently turned in the building on June 23^rd, 1968 to the Government of the Indonesian Capital of Jakarta to be made as the Wayang Museum. The museum’s inaugural ceremony was held on August 13^th, 1975. Although the Wayang Museum inherited by the Dutch VOC is very old, its physical structure remains elegant and sturdy. The two-floored building standing on an area of 935,25 m2 on Jalan Pintu Besar Utara, West Jakarta, has never been renovated. Consequently, this historical building is entered on the list of 136 protected historic places, which implies the effort to preserve its originality with intensive maintenance.

The museum building will soon be expanded, but not by constructing a new compound in fact, there is no available space on the left and right side of the building because it is adjacent to other buildings. Today the construction is still at the preparation stage to demolish walls to make doorways. The new building plans to increase the activity in the Wayang Museum, which has been on rigorous promotion for more flow of visitors are people from a variety of countries, among whom are international students in Indonesia.

Many breakthrough plans had to be done to get the attention from museum visitors. In particular domestic and international tourist. From instance, the Wayang Revolution Exhibition, a wayang artworkpiece donated by the mayor of Rotterdam, was held in 2005. The cow hide wayang depicting figures of a variety of occupation, social class, gender and ethnicity was believed to be bought from Raden Mas Sajid, an artist from Solo, Central Java, in the 1960s. Furthermore, a shadow wayang show was held during the commemoration of the anniversary of Jakarta city using the Wayang Revolution material in the open area of the Historic Museum Plaza or the Fatahillah Park. The museum curators organized regular events to invite students to observe wayang making acivities. Moreover, they held workshops on museums in the Jakarta area schools, Wayang Golek Lenong shows, and other wayang shows.

MPU TANTULAR MUSEUM, EAST JAVA

Collection of Mpu Tantular Museum consist more or less about 1500 collections, which some from the pre-historical period, the Hindu and Buddist Kingdom era,the Islamic Kingdom, Colonial era and Modern era. Mpu Tantular Museum are and expansion from Stedelijk Historich, a museum located in Surabaya by Von Faber, a German collector who stays in Surabaya.

 

Von Faber has begun consruction of the museum since 1922 and is well established in year 1933. The museum is open for public since 25 June 1937. Von Faber passed away on 30^th September 1955. Upon his deceased, the museum does not have enough attention and care that has left some of the collection broken or lost.

The Museum used to be located in Raadhius ketabang road, and was later moved to Jalan Tegalsari to a house owned by a window named Han Tjiong King. The house itself is 5 times larger that the initial location. Later in 1972, the museum Stedelijk Historich Surabaya was renamed as East Java Museum and was again relocated to Jalan Pemuda 3 Surabaya (currently Trimurti high school). Since 1974 up to 2001. The museum is being maintained by UPT (Technical Executor Unit) under the authority of Cultural Decorated of Indonesia. In November 1 1974, the museum was again renamed as National Museum of the East Java province “MPU Tantular”. MPU Tantular himself is the writer of the Arjunawijaya and Sutasoma book, which highlighted the Bhinneka Tunggal Ika philosophy (the motto of Indonesia)

Ever since, the museum continues to grow, and soon the room of the museum starts to dilapidate, creating and effort to expand  and create new room to store the collections. This effort was finally realized by constructing a new building. Since 14 May 2004, the MPU Tantular museum moved to the final destination in Jalan Buduran, Sidoarjo, on the intersection of Jalan Diponegoro and Darmo Surabaya.

Since 2005 the collection of the museum increased rapidly to 1500 collection, which are then classified into 10 categories: Biological, Geological, Ethnographical, Archeological, Historical, Ceramic, Philological, Fine arts, Technology, Numismatic and Heraldic.  

Sangiran Museum Central Java

Sragen is one of the Central Java province which is located in the border with East Java province. It could also be said that Sragen state is the “gateway” to Central Java when travelling from the East. Sragen is also called as “Tlatah Sukowati” which as an area of 941.55 km2 wide, with a topography as in the middleof Bengawan Solo river (the longest river in Java island) and south of the Lawu mountain valley. North of Sragen is part of the Kendeng mountain and west are very well known as “Kubah Sangiran”

 

One of the interesting object of the Sragen state in the Sangiran Museum which is located in the area of Kuah Sangiran. Kubah itself means vault. Hence the vault is located in Depresi Solo, foot of Lawu mountain (about 17 km of Solo city). The presence of Sangiran is a perfect example of the ancient human existence, as you could find the Java. The area is about 56 km wide that spread over 3 sub-district in Sragen state, which is Gemolong, Gondangrejo and Karanganyar district. Sangiran is one of the most important site for anthropological, archeological, biological, plaeonthological, geological and of course travel site.

The existence of the site is very important as out of the fossils, flora and fauna fossils along with their statigrafics. Sangiran is passed by a beautiful river, cemoro river this flows to the delta of Bengawan Solo. This is the region where most land erosions occur, the erosion caused the difference of the layers of the earth. In this layersis where the fossils are mostly found.

Today, the Fossils site of Sangiran still hold a lot of mystery that is left to be discovered about 50 individuals of Human fossils (Homo erectus) is found. This number represents 65% of the Homo Erectus in the world (Widianto: 1995,1). The whole fossils found numbered about 13,809 piesces. About 2,934 fossils is kept in the Exhibition room of the Sangiran Museum and 10,875 other fossils are kept in Geological Museum Bandung and Paleoanthological Laboratory in Yogyakarta. Based on the findings, Sangiran site is one of the most priced pre-historicall site for understanding and learning the evolution of men. Based on these facts, Sangiran site is named as World Heritage Committee during their 20^th anniversary in Merida Mexico. Research about the ancient man and animals is started by G.H.R Von Koeningswald, a paleonthological expert from Germany, who worked for Dutch government in Bandung city in 1930’s. He is responsible for training the people of Sangiran about fossils and the way of handling fossils they have found. The research was then compiled in the head of Krikilan village, Mr. Totomarsono, until year 1975. During the period, many visitors have come to visit. This is where the main idea of building a museum is born. In the forefront, Sangiran Museum is built in a 1,000 m2 land, located in Krikilan village official house. However , a new respresentative museum is built in 1980, considering the founding of more fossils along with the need  to create a better atmosphere for the visitors. The building is built in an area of 16.675 m2 with the museum building about 750 m2 large.

The architecture of the museum adapted Joglo house design and consist of a hall, exhibition room, laboratory, library, souvenier shop (mostly selling fortune stone of Cemoro river), toilet, mosque, parking area, storage room and audio visual room (a theatrical room showing pre-historical film about human life).

Sangiran Museum continues to develop and increase the amounts of building and facilities. The aim was to firmly establish themselves as one of the important role in the development of knowledge. Today, the museum has revolutionize to become a grand museum with modern architecture.        

LEMBAGA PEMERINTAH PENGELOLA PARIWISATA DI DIY

                                                                                                                                                              

Dinas Pariwisata Pemda Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta

Jl. Malioboro 56 Yogyakarta

Phone : +62 274 587486 Fax : (0274) 565437

Yogyakarta – Indonesia

http://www.visitingjogja.com

Tourist Information Centre (Pusat Penerangan Pariwisata)

Jl. Malioboro 16                                                                                                                                      Phone : +62 274 566000                                                                                                                    Yogyakarta

LEMBAGA PEMERINTAHAN PENGELOLA PARIWISATA DI KABUPATEN / KOTA

1.      Dinas Pariwisata, Seni dan Budaya Kota Yogyakarta

Jl. Suroto no.11 Yogyakarta

Phone : +62 274 588025

2.      Dinas Kebudayaan dan Pariwisata Kabupaten Bantul

Jl. Tentara Pelajar (Lingkar Timur Bakulan)

Phone : +62 274 368465

3.       Dinas Pariwisata dan Kebudayaan Kab. Gunung kidul

Jl. Brigjen Katamso 10 Wonosari

Phone : +62 274 391031

4.      Dinas Kebudayaan dan Pariwisata Kab. Kulon Progo

Jl. Sugiman 12 Watuluyu – Wates

Phone : +62 274 773095

5.      Dinas Kebudayaan dan Pariwisata Kab. Sleman

Jl. Merapi 13 Beran – Tridadi Sleman

Phone : +62 274 869613