Destinations
Marine
World
Wild Life
and Natural Reserves
Monuments
and Museums
Monuments
and Museums
The
many monuments and museums, large and small
which are found throughout this country
offer together virtually the whole spectrum
of Indonesian life, thought and history;
beginning from the time of the earliest
inhabitation and even before, up to the
present.
The
best known, and also the oldest in existence
of the museum of art, culture and history
is the Central Museum in Jakarta. Museums
of natural history are found in Bogor and
Bandung. Of equal scientific interest, though
small in size, is the Sangiran museum of
paleontology and anthropology.
Sangiran
A
small museum in this village, 15 km from
Solo, displays pre-historic fossils found
in the area. This area along the Solo river
is an outcropping of the earth's old strata,
which have in the past yielded many major
finds. Among them were the remains of "Solo
Man" (Homo Soloensis), one of the earliest
hominid fossils known.
The
fossilized remains of the earliest inhabitants
of Java found so far, the "Java Man" or
Pithecanthropus erectus, were found in 1881
by the Dutchman Dr. Eugene Dubois near the
village of Trinil in East Java. The find
has since been succeeded by several others.
The Directorate of National Heritage and
Historical values of the Department of Education
and Culture is in charge of the supervision
of the site management.
Central
Museum
Jakarta's
Central Museum is reputedly one of the finest
in Southeast Asia. Founded in 1788, it still
has the world's most complete collection
of Indonesian artifacts. Its Hindu-Javanese
collection rivals that of the Leiden Museum
in Holland, reputedly the finest in the
world. It has one the richest collections
of Han, Tang and Ming porcelain and an array
of Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese export ceramics.
Its numismatic collection includes rare
specimens of cloth-money used in the past
in various areas of Indonesia. Adjacent
to the museum is the National library with
over 700,000 old and recent volumes of books,
manuscripts and periodicals covering virtually
every subject on Indonesian. Located at
Jl. Merdeka Barat 12, Phone: 360976.
Fatahillah
Square
This
open-air museum of Old Batavia, now called
Jakarta, Taman Fatahillah (Fatahillah Square)
has three main establishments standing on
the south, east and west of the cobblestone
square proper. The first is the Jakarta
Museum, which exhibits the colonial history
of the city by, also includes relics from
the pre-colonial post.
The
edifice on the east, formerly the Supreme
Court, houses the Fine Arts Gallery and
the Ceramics Museum containing, among others,
the excellent Chinese and Southeast Asian
ceramics collection donated by the late
former Vice President Adam Malik. On the
western side of the square is the Wayang
Museum, filled with all sorts of puppets
used in the indigenous puppet theatre. The
largest part of the collection consists
of wayang kulit flat leather puppets of
various types from various regions. Demonstrations
of the shadow play, lasting two hours, are
given every Sunday morning.
Maritime
Museum
At
the northern end of Jakarta, in the old
Sunda Kelapa harbor area, is the Maritime
Museum with exhibits displayed inside the
old Dutch East India Company warehouses.
In small-scale models and pictures, the
museum attempts to give the visitor an idea
of Indonesia's seafaring tradition and the
importance of the sea to the economy of
present-day Indonesia. The museum has models
of fishing boots from most parts of Indonesia,
stone anchors used in some areas, modern
steamers and also the celebrated Pinisi
schooners of the Bugis people of South Sulawesi
which at present make up one of the last
sea-going sailing fleets in the world. Located
at Jl. Pasar Ikan, Phone: 6693406 Jakarta.
National
Monument
The
137-metre tall monument with the gold flame
on top facing the Presidential Palace in
Jakarta symbolizes the nation's independence.
The basement of the monument houses a Museum
of History with dioramas depicting the history
of Indonesia from prehistoric times up to
the present. A good portion of it is devoted
to the national war for independence waged
from 1945 to December 1949. Not part of
the museum but located similarly at the
foot of the National Monument is the Hall
of Silence, Indonesia's first President,
Soekarno, can be heard. Located at Jalan
Silang Manas Jakarta.
Armed
Forces Museum
Located
in the southern part of Jakarta, is the
Satria Mandala Museum, or Armed Forces Museum.
This museum has an interesting collection
of arms, including Japanese fighter planes
of World War II vintage, Russian and American
guns and armored cars.
Dioramas
give the visitor an insight regarding the
role of the Indonesian Armed Services in
this country. Located at Jalan Jend. Gatot
Subroto, Jakarta.
The
Textile Museum
The
Textile Museum on Jalan Sasuit Tubun inJakarta,
a many times renovated 19th century mansion,
houses a collection of about 600 different
kinds of traditional Indonesian textiles,
from batik to ikat and Dayak bark cloths.
Weaving was and often still is closely connected
with religious practice. In many regions
such textiles are still used to pay fines,
avert illness or for other social and religious
purposes. Some of the oldest Indonesian
ornamental designs are found in their original
textiles.
Museum
Indonesia
Inside
the Taman Mini is the Museum Indonesia,
a three-storey edifice in traditional Balinese
architecture. The museum houses a vast collection
of Indonesian contemporary arts and crafts,
traditional costumes from the various regions,
puppets, musical instruments, masks, and
a large variety of utensils and equipment
used in daily life. Mannequins and mock-ups
display the various rituals concerned with
the passage of life.
Museum
Sono Budoyo-Yogyakarta
This
museum facing the Kraton (Sultan's palace)
in Yogyakarta was founded in 1935 and built
in traditional Javanese architecture. Its
fine collection includes weapons, leather
and wooden wayang puppets, masks, statues,
textiles, curiosa and old Javanese gamelan
instruments. A library is attached. Located
at Jalan Trikora 2 Yogyakarta.
Museum
Radjapustoko-Solo
The
Radjapustoko Museum is located next to the
Sriwedari amusement park in Solo and has
a miscellaneous by interesting collection
of art objects and mementoes from Java's
past. Located at Jl. Slamet Riyadi 234 Solo,
Central Java.
Zoological
Museum
The
Zoological Museum in Bogor has a vast collection
of preserved species of Indonesian fauna,
from birds and reptiles to mammals and conchs,
most of it displayed in lifelike dioramas.
The museum has a library on the Indonesian
fauna as well.
Geological
Museum
Another
museum of natural history is the Geological
Museum in Bandung with an annexed library.
Part of the Geological Service of Indonesia,
it was founded in 1929 and has collection
of fossils, rocks, minerals, volcano models,
maps, Marquette etc. The fossilized skull
of Pithecanthropus erectus, the celebrated
pre-historic "Java Man" is kept here.
Other
Monuments and Museums
Museums
of local culture and history are found in
many provincial capitals and towns, among
others the Bukittinggi Museum in West SUMATRA,
the Makkasar Museum in the former Fort Rotterdam
at Ujung Pandang, South Sulawesi and the
Simolungun Museum at Pematang Siantar, North
SUMATRA.
back
to top
