TAMAN SARI

Taman Sari also known as Taman Sari Water Castle is a site of a former royal garden of the Sultanate of Yogyakarta. It is located about 2 km south within the grounds of the Kraton, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Built in mid 18th century, the Taman Sari had multiple functions, such as a resting area, a workshop, a meditation area, a defense area, and a hiding place.

Taman Sari consisted of four distinct areas: a large artificial lake with islands and pavilions located in the west, a bathing complex in the centre, a complex of pavilions and pools in the south, and a smaller lake in the east. Today only the central bathing complex is well preserved, while the other areas have been largely occupied by the Kampung Taman settlement.

Since 1995 the Yogyakarta Palace Complex including Taman Sari is listed as a tentative World Heritage Site.

The name Taman Sari comes from the Javanese words taman, meaning a "garden" or "park" and sari, which means "beautiful" or "flowers". Hence, the name Taman Sari means an area of a beautiful garden adorned with flowers. An old article described it as a "water castle" (Dutch: waterkasteel); as by shutting the watergates, the complex would be completely immersed in water, leaving tall structures standing out.

history

The building of Taman Sari commenced during the reign of Sultan Hamengkubuwono I (1755–1792), the first sultan of the Yogyakarta Sultanate, and was completed by the time of Sultan Hamengkubuwono II. The building site, however, had already been known as a bathing place called Pacethokan Spring since Sunan Amangkurat IV’s reign (1719–1726).[6][7] According to Kitab Mamana in Yogyakarta Kraton, the project leader for the construction of Taman Sari was Tumenggung Mangundipura. He had travelled twice to Batavia to learn about European architecture, which is the reason why the architecture of Taman Sari has marks of European style.[8] The Regent of Madiun, Raden Rangga Prawirasentika, participated in funding the construction of Taman Sari. Prawirasentika also beseeched the Sultan to be relieved of Madiun's tax obligation. He offered other alternative ways of payment. The Sultan accepted his proposal. In 1758, the Sultan commanded the Regent to supervise the making of bricks and various complements, which would be used to build a beautiful garden. The sultan wanted a place where he could spend some time to relax after many years of wars that he had just experienced. Raden Tumenggung Mangundipura, under supervision of Raden Arya Natakusuma (who later became Sri Pakualam II), was responsible for the construction. The building was started in 1684 Javanese year (1758 AD). After finding out how large the complex was, Raden Rangga Prawirasentika realized that the cost would have been greater than the taxes. He resigned from the project and was replaced by Prince Natakusuma who continued the project to completion.

Taman Sari was built three years after the Giyanti Agreement as a resting place for Sultan Hamengkubuwono I. The complex consists of about 59 buildings[4] including a mosque, meditation chambers, swimming pools, and a series of 18 water gardens and pavilions surrounded by artificial lakes. The complex was effectively used between 1765-1812.

The British invasion of the Yogyakarta Kraton saw considerable parts of the complex destroyed in 1812.

The building of Taman Sari ended upon the completion of the gates and the walls. A sengkalan memet (a Javanese chronogram) on the western gate (Gedhong Gapura Hageng) marks the year with the Javanese words Lajering Kembang Sinesep Peksi, denoting the Javanese year of 1691 or about 1765: lajering, "core" for 1; kembang, "flower" for 9; sinerep, "suck" or "drink" for 6; peksi, "bird" for 1; the sentence can be read as "birds gathering pollen of the flower". The relief around this sengkalan memet shows birds siphoning honey from flowery trees.

The maintenance of  Taman Sari was abandoned shortly after Hamengkubuwono I died, partly because the elaborate hydraulic works were so difficult to maintain. The gardens were neglected and the buildings suffered some damage during the Java War of 1825-1830. A late 19th century photo of the Kenongo building in ruins. The surrounding area, once the Segaran lake, is dry and filled with plants. Today the lake is filled with buildings and the Kenongo building is still in ruin.

The palace complex fell out of use following an earthquake in 1867, which destroyed several buildings and drained the water features. Over time, squatters began to inhabit the site, surrounding the ruins of the deserted pavilions and filling the empty lakebeds.

In early 1970s, effort at restoration was made. Only the bathing complex has been completely restored.

Yogyakarta is a city in the Yogyakarta Special Region, Indonesia. It is renowned as a centre of classical Javanese fine art and culture such as batik, ballet, drama, music, poetry, and puppet shows. Yogyakarta was the Indonesian capital during the Indonesian National Revolution from 1945 to 1949.

Orientation

The area of the city of Yogyakarta is 32.5 km². While the city spreads in all directions from the kraton (the Sultan's palace), the core of the modern city is to the north, centring around Dutch colonial-era buildings and the commercial district. Jalan Malioboro, with rows of pavement vendors and nearby market and malls, is the primary shopping street for tourists in the city, while Jalan Solo, further north, is a shopping district more frequented by locals. At the southern end of Malioboro, on the east side is the large local market of Beringharjo, not far from Fort Vredeburg a restored Dutch fort.

At Yogyakarta's centre is the kraton, or Sultan's palace. Surrounding the kraton is a densely populated residential neighbourhood that occupies land that was formerly the Sultan's sole domain. Evidence of this former use remains in the form of old walls and the ruined Taman Sari, built in 1758 as a pleasure garden. No longer used by the sultan, the garden had been largely abandoned. For a time, it was used for housing by palace employees and descendants. Reconstruction efforts began in 2004, and an effort to renew the neighbourhood around the kraton has begun. The site is a developing tourist attraction.

Nearby to the city of Yogyakarta is Mount Merapi. The northern outskirts of the city run up to the southern slopes of the mountain in Sleman Regency (Indonesian language–Kabupaten). Gunung Merapi (literally Mountain of Fire in Indonesian/Javanese), is an active Stratavolcano located on the border between Central Java and Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It is the most active volcano in Indonesia and has erupted regularly since 1548. The volcano last erupted in November 2010.

Arts and culture

Yogyakarta has strong communities in:

• silver work,
• Traditional leather puppetry used for shadow plays (wayang kulit),
• Contemporary puppetry and theatre, for example Papermoon Puppet Theatre ^[2]
• Making batik dyed fabric. It is also known for its vivid contemporary art scene.
• gamelan music, including the unique style Gamelan Yogyakarta, which developed in the courts.
• Yogyakarta is also a haven for underground art.
• Independent filmmaking communities,
• Independent musicians,
• Performance artists,
• Visual artists including Taring Padi community in Bantul, that produces art prints using a technique called cukil.

Daren kidul Dono Kerto Turi

Education

Yogyakarta is well-known as home of Gadjah Mada University, one of Indonesia's most prominent state universities. The others public university in Yogyakarta are Yogyakarta State University, Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University, Indonesia Arts Institute. This city also houses several well known private universities such as Muhammadiyah University of Yogyakarta, Islamic University of Indonesia, Atma Jaya University and Sanata Dharma University.

History

The City of Jogjakarta and the Kingdom of Jogjakarta was established as a result of a "Gianti war treaty" (Perjanjian Gianti) by HRH Prince Mangkubumi, who later become HRH Sultan Hamengkubuwono I. Officially, the creation of Kingdom of Jogjakarta is dated to October 7, 1756 as a result of civil war among the bloodline of The Kingdom of Mataram. The civil war was fought against Hamengkubuwono's and his elder brother, HRH Sunan Pakubuwono II. This civil war marked the end of the Kingdom of Mataram and resulted in the birth of the Kingdom of Jogjakarta and the Kingdom of Surakarta.
The root of the civil war started when Sunan Pakubuwono II agreed to cooperate with the Dutch colonial government and submit to foreign (western) powers. His younger brother, HRH Prince Mangkumbumi (HRH Sultan Hamengkubuwono) stood against the concept, due to concern that his people would become slaves under Dutch rule. The Javanese slaves were used to work for businesses owned by V.O.C. and the Dutch Colonial Government and exported to present day Suriname in South America. In the Netherlands itself, some of the Dutch people stood against the policy of their home government.
Prince Mangkubumi fought until the defeat of the Pakubuwono forces and declared sovereignty in the Kingdom of Jogjakarta south of the original Kingdom of Mataram. Because of this historical act of bravery and sacrifice, Jogjakarta is given Special Administrative Region (SAR) status, making the Province of Jogjakarta the only province headed by a monarchy.

Museums

Due to the importance of Yogyakarta during the war of independence from the Dutch, there are numerous memorials and museums. Yogya Kembali, and Fort Vredeburg are two major museums of about 11 named in the city.
To the east of the town centre is a large air-force museum; as Indonesia was for a period in the Soviet sphere of influence this museum contains a number of vintage Russian aircraft not widely available for inspection in the NATO sphere of influence. The collection includes examples of the Mig 15 trainer (NATO designation Mongol), MiG 17 (Fresco), MiG 19 (Farmer), Mig 21 (Fishbed) and Tu16 (Badger), together with an assortment of American and British aircraft.

Transportation

Yogyakarta is served by Adisucipto International Airport which connects the city with some other major cities in Indonesia, such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Bali, Makassar, Balikpapan, Banjarmasin, and Pontianak. It also connects the city with Singapore (operated by Indonesia AirAsia) and Kuala Lumpur (operated by AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines).
The city is located on one of the two major railway lines across Java between Jakarta / Bandung and Surabaya. It has two passenger railway stations, Tugu Railway Station which serves business and executive class trains, and Lempuyangan Station which serves economy class trains. Both stations are located in the heart of the city.
The city has an extensive system of public city buses, and is a major destination for inter-city buses to elsewhere on Java or Bali, as well as taxis, andongs, and becaks. Motorbikes are by far the most commonly used personal transportation, but an increasing number of residents own automobiles.
Starting from early 2008, the city has operated a bus rapid transit system called Trans Jogja. This system is modeled after TransJakarta. But unlike Trans Jakarta, there is no particular lane for Trans Jogja buses, they run on main streets. Currently there are six lines of Trans Jogja service, with routes throughout main streets of Yogyakarta, which some overlap one another. The lines extend from Jombor bus station in the north as far as Giwangan main bus terminal in the south and Prambanan bus shelter in the east via Adisucipto International Airport. Trans Jogja has now become a new trademark of Yogyakarta and frequently used by local citizens and tourists alike.
In a recent forum discussion on long-term future transportation plans in Yogyakarta held in Universitas Gadjah Mada, Head of Yogyakarta region transportation master plan team, Prof Ahmad Munawar, said that, in 2016 various modern transport modes include monorail, aerobus, and tram will begin operating in the city and the region.