The Special Region of Yogyakarta is a province of dozens musea. Almost in every part of the province has one, run either by government, educational institution, foundation, or private sector. Each of the musea has a certain vision and mission. For example, Mount Merapi Museum is founded as a place for information, research, education, and recreation related to the volcano, Kolong Tangga Children’s Museum aims at nurturing children creativity, and Affandi Museum is constructed to commemorate and as a gallery of Indonesian painting maestro, Affandi.
Often referred as the capital of Javanese culture, Yogyakarta has musea founded to preserve cultural heritages. One of them is KekayonPuppetMuseum, usually compressed to merely KekayonMuseum. Kekayon is another word for Gunungan (a symbolic triangle figure in wayang play, placed in the middle of the screen) that symbolizes life. The establishment of KekayonMuseum was originated from the initiative of Prof. Dr. dr. KRT. Soejono Prawirohusodo, oddly a psychiatrist.
Prof. Soejono was devoted to puppetry and had always had a dream to set up a special museum for puppet in the hope that Indonesian young generations would appreciate and know about their remarkable culture. In 1981 he started the work. He began with the concept of the museum’s architecture, content, and location. The whole planning and construction was finally completed in 1987. During the process, Prof. Soejono traveled around seeking for puppets to add to his collection.
In January 5th 1991, KekayonPuppetMuseum was inaugurated by Governor of the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Sri Paduka Paku Alam VII and started to open for public. The museum, that resembles Javanese traditional architecture Joglo, has 9 buildings and sits in a land as wide as 1,1 Ha at the side of Yogyakarta-Wonosari Highway, Km 7.
Mini Puppet Show
KekayonMuseum has 5.465 puppets of 25 types from either Indonesia or abroad. Among them are Purwa Puppet, Madya Puppet, Balinese Puppet, Suluh Pupet, Golek Puppet, Potehi (Chinese) Puppet, Kancil Puppet, Thai Puppet, Indian Puppet, and still many others. Aside from puppets, KekayonMuseum also collects masks.
After Prof. dr. Soejono passed away, the museum is managed by his son, RM. Donny Megananda, S.Si., M.M. Today, Kekayon Puppet Museum is overseen by Kekayon Social Foundation and has joined Badan Musyawarah Musea (Barahmus), a Musea Organization, of the Special Region of Yogyakarta.
B. Features
Visitors will find it cool and quiet there. Little birds fly from one tree to another, go down to the ground once in a while and walk as if ignoring people around them, then fly away again. Although Kekayon is a museum that specializes on culture, the museum is open for public, especially puppet devotee.
KekayonPuppetMuseum complex is divided into several parts. First is the main building which is a Joglo complete with kuncung, pendapa, longkang, peringitan and dalem with sarean tengah. The main building functions as the office of Kekayon Foundation as well as a place for art performances. At times, the building functions also as a wedding place.
The Puppet Collection Exhibition Room
The collection items are placed in special buildings distinguished into 9 units as follows:
Unit 1 (Yogyakarta style purwa puppets): containing puppets of Lokapala, Ramayana, post-Bharatayudha, Raden Gatot Kaca mannequin puppets, and the whole collection of purwa puppets of Yogyakarta style.
Unit 2 (Surakarta style purwa puppets): containing details of puppet costume, lineages of the dyniasties of Bharata, Palasan Krama, Jejeran Astina, Pasetran Gandhamayit, Parepatan Agung of the Gods, Karna Tanding, Budhalan Astina, and Sri Bathara Kresna mannequin puppet.
Unit 3 (madya and gedhog puppets): containing puppet characters of Geculan, Bandung Bondowoso, Anglingdarma, Panji-Klana, various gunungan of Surakarta style madya puppets, Yogyakarta style gedhog puppets, and Devi Shinta mannequin puppet.
Unit 4 (klitik, krucil, and beber puppets): containing Damarwulan Begal, Menakjingga Lena, Rama Tambak, Mintaraga, model of the scene of Kiskendha Cave, Yogyakarta style klitik puppets, Banyuwangi-Tulungagung style klitik puppets, Surakarta style beber puppets and Prabu Gambiranom mannequin puppet.
Unit 5 (various kinds of puppets): containing a collection of Maduranese, Dupara, Kartasuranese, Kidang Kencana, Kancil, Purworejo, Kaper puppets and Prabu Ramawijaya mannequin puppets.
The Collection of KekayonPuppetMuseum
Unit 6 (various kinds of puppets): a collection of Balinese puppets, Menak puppets, perjanjian puppets, suluh puppets, Sentolo style golek menak puppets, Bantul style golek menak puppets, golek wahyu puppets, golek tangul puppets, Raden Anoman mannequin puppet.
Unit 7 (golek puppets and new creation puppets): containing Javanese puppets, tutur puppets, Diponegaran puppets, golek purwa puppets, golek cepak puppets, Sundanese golek puppets, Devi Trijatra mannequin puppets.
Unit 8 (masks and mini scale models of puppet show): containing various masks such as Yogyakartanese masks, Balinese masks, Maduranese masks, mixed-style masks, costumes for wayang wong (puppets performed by real people), mini scale models of leather puppet show, wayang wong show, Yuyu Kangkang and Jaka Tarub performance, Kethek Ogleng performance, Jatilan and Balinese Barong performance, and Dasamuka mannequin puppet.
Unit 9 (various kinds of puppets): containing a collection of kerasul puppets, turis puppets, Thai puppets, Potehi (Chinese) puppets, carton puppets and Raden Kumbakarna mannequin puppet.
What is unique about the items, aside from the wide variety of the types, is that there are a number of replicas of events and buildings related to Indonesian history since ancient times up to the independence declaration, including the history of puppet art since the 6th to 20th century. The record of Indonesian history starts in the front yard of the museum. On the left corner, there is a complex of prehistoric constructions illustrating the origin of Indonesian people. Although the constructions have been damaged, at least there is something that gives us picture of early historic era.
Some replicas illustrating the historical timeline of Indonesian people
In the front yard, there is also a Borobudur’s lion usher statue marking the entrance of Hindu-Buddha civilization to Indonesia. There is also a water tower with a temple-shaped roof, depicting the grandeur of Majapahit Empire. Besides, there is also a replica of KudusTower that portrays the arrival of Islam. Near to it, Bidadari Fountain Complex gives us picture of European influence on the people, especially the Dutch, who once colonized Indonesia. There are also the complex of Baleranu Mangkubumi, Japanese statue, and Proklamasi (Declaration of Independence) statues symbolizing the history around the time of Indonesian struggle of independence.
C. Location
KekayonPuppetMuseum is situated in the 7th kilometer of Jogja-Wonosari Highway, No. 277, Baturetno, Banguntapan, Bantul Regency, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
D. Access
KekayonMuseum’s location is right at the side of the highway connecting Yogyakarta and Gunung Kidul Regency so that the access to get to this place is easy. From AdiSuciptoAirport, the museum is 6 kilometers away, while from Giwangan Bus Station 5 kilometers. Visitors can use private transportation, public transportation of Jogja-Wonosari route, or taxi to get there.
E. Ticket
The ticket rate is set by the management of KekayonPuppetMuseum based on nationality. Domestic students and common visitors are charged Rp 7.000,00 per person while foreign tourist is charged each Rp 10.000,00. A visitor bringing camera is charged with an additional Rp 10.000,00.
KekayonPuppetMuseum is open from Tuesday to Sunday, at 08.30 a.m. – 02.30 p.m. West Indonesian Standard Time. The museum is closed on Mondays. If coming in a group, it is probably better for you to have prior confirmation of your visit with the management of KekayonMuseum.
F. Accommodations and Facilities
As an art and cultural tourist destination, KekayonPuppetMuseum is a place for education, research, and recreation at the same time. To support the functions, the museum is also fitted out with many facilities.
The hall (Pendopo) in which various events are usually held
Beside the puppet storages and exhibition rooms, in KekayonPuppetMuseum there are also other buildings with different functions. One of them is the auditorium equipped with audiovisual facilities which are usually used to present introductory information about the museum before visitors enter the main room.
KekayonPuppetMuseum also has a main building of a Javanese architectural construction complete with kuncung, pendapa, longkang, peringitan, and ndalem with sarean tengah. The roomy pendopo (hall) is used for different occasions such as wedding, preparatory training for art performance, and workshop. A tourism package of dinner and watching art performance is also available there.
Elisabeth Murni (wm/45/04-10)
Translation by Reza Daffi (trans/11/05-10)
___________
Source of Photo: Collection of Wisatamelayu.com (Photographer: Elisabeth Murni)
Have you ever imagined that in the middle of modernity and global influence which corrupt local culture little by little, there is a community which maintains its traditional customs and practically resistant to any modern touch? If your answer is yes, you are absolutely not day dreaming. Indeed, there is such community which insists to maintain the traditional way of life and live in simplicity without any single sign of modernity in their daily life. The community is better known as Kampung Naga villagers.
Kampung Naga is a traditional village located near the Garut-Tasikmalaya highway. The villagers are traditional because they are loyal in maintaining their local custom, which they inherit from their ancestors. You will see that they are completely different from any community living outside their village. One of the foundation of living in Kampung Naga is simplicity. For the villagers, maintaining local custom is homage for the ancestors (karuhan). Everything from outside what the karuhan have taught them is considered as taboo, which would cause misfortune and great disaster if violated.
Total population of Kampung Naga is not more than 311. All villagers live in their peaceful and fertile land near Ciwulan river. As a village, Kampung Naga is divided into several areas such as wood, river, race fields, and houses, each of which has borders which should not be violated because the villagers believe that each border is kept by a supernatural creature. If any single person dares to violate a border, the supernatural keeper will be offended and get angry, and it will cause the disaster comes. Therefore, the villagers should not build houses in race fields area or in other area except the houses area, because if they do, it means that they are violating the tenet of karuhan.
There are 111 buildings in Kampung Naga, consist of 108 houses, 1 public hall (bale patemon), 1 mosque, and 1 rice barn. The mosque, the public hall, and the rice barn are built in a row, facing east-west. In front of those buildings is a wide yard which the vilagers usually use for traditional ceremony. Houses are also built in a row, facing north-south.
The houses in Kampung Naga are built on stilts. The main materials are wood and plaited bamboo laths. The roofs are made of thatch palm leaves, palm fibers, or tall grass. The architecture and interior are designed in such a way so that air and natural light are well circulated. In addition, the structure of buildings in Kampung Naga is earthquake proof. It was proven on Wednesday, September 2, 2009 when a 7,3 RS earthquake shook Tasikmalaya. There was no single building in Kampung Naga broke down or had a serious damage. It becomes the basic for Green Building Council of Indonesia (GBCI) to make Kampung Naga as a sequential for green and energy saving architectural design certification.
B. Distinctive Features
The main interest of Kampung Naga is the calm and peaceful ambience, in which local traditional customs are well maintained—in contrast to recent modern villages. To reach Kampung Naga, you should walk down through hundreds steep stairs (sengked). Therefore, you need to be careful especially on rainy season. However, your struggle will be paid off when you reach the village and see these panoramas lie right in front of your eyes: refreshing green rice fields and the winding Ciwulan river all composed in a beautiful harmony with birds‘ chirps, the sound of flowing water and the fair zephyr which will make you instantly forget the difficult way that you‘ve been through to set your feet on the village.
The rules in Kampung Naga do not have any exception, including for the visitors from outside the village. If you come to this village, you also have to obey some rules such as not saying whatever comes to your head, not annoying animals, and not breaking tree branches or twigs. For the villagers themselves, they have even many more rules and taboos they call pamali, such as they are not allowed to paint their houses except with lime, not building their houses using bricks and cement, carrying out art performances only for local arts—meaning that no arts from outside the village are allowed, and many other rules. Those rules maybe strange for us, but indeed, the villagers are succeed in maintaining their traditional tenets by obeying the pamali.
Another special characteristic of Kampung Naga, like the Badui, the villagers do not allow any single modern thing entering their village. They do not even use electricity. Therefore, it is very dark when the night comes. The villagers use teplok or lantern to light up their houses while for the paths in the village, they use torches. It makes the experience of spending a night in Kampung Naga is worth trying and will be an unforgettable moment in your life.
Near Kampung Naga, there are two waterfalls which are too beautiful to miss. In the waterfall you can enjoy the fresh water and the natural view which will make time as if stops for you. However, you must be aware to leave the waterfalls when the sun sets, because the villagers of Kampung Naga believe that whoever stays in the waterfall until evening, he or she will be possessed by a supernatural creature who keeps the waterfalls.
The villagers in Kampung Naga also held some traditional ceremonies which usually hold on the months of Maulud and Syawal (Islamic calendar). If you want to attend the ceremonies, you must obey the rules along the ceremony.
Kampung Naga is located in Neglasari village, Salawu sub regency, Tasikmalaya regency, West Java province, Indonesia.
D. Access
Located near the Garut-Tasikmalaya highway, Kampung Naga easy to reach by personal or public transportation. The village is on the valley of Ciwulan river, about 500 meters down from the highway. It is 30 km from Tasikmalaya, 26 km from Garut, and 90 km from Bandung.
E. Ticketing
Visiting Kampung Naga is free. However, it is recommended not to come on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Saturday, because on those days, the villagers of Kampung Naga are doing a ritual called menyepi or avoiding any conversation about their village and customs.
F. Accommodation and other facilities
Although very popular in West Java, there is no electricity in Kampung Naga. The tourists who want to spenda night or more in this village should ask for permission from kuncen (the elders of the village) several days before. Without electricity, the facilities are minimal. On the other hand, you can feel to be really close to the nature and feel the uniqueness of living among well maintained traditional customs.
Most of the villagers in Kampung Naga speak Sundanese. Therefore, it is recommended for you who don‘t speak Sundanese to hire a guide. Kampung Naga has many villagers who can be your guide with flexible tariffs.
Right on the gateway into Kampung Naga, there is a wide parking lot for your personal vehicles. Around the parking lot, there are many kiosks selling souvenirs made by the villagers of Kampung Naga and some food stalls.
Elisabeth Murni (trans/14/01-10)
__________
References:
Ahmad Fahroni. “Mengawali Kelestarian dengan Pamali”. Kompas, 17 December 2009.
Lebak District is one of popular tourism destinations in the province of Banten. It is famous for its villages that might offer you with picturesque nature views and the fresh air that is rarely found in big cities. Amongst them is Sawarna village, located at Kampong Gendol, BayahSub-district, Lebak District, BantenProvince.
SawarnaVillage was the centre of coconut plantation when the Dutch colonials occupied Indonesia. At that time, SawarnaVillage was famous for its coconut oil and copra. A Dutchman, Jean Van Gought, was the founder of the coconut plantation. Up to now, this village is still the biggest coconut oil producer in the province of Banten. They are even distributed to Jakarta, Bandung, and Bogor.
At the Japanese colonization, SawarnaVillage was a gold mining site. There you can find holes in some hills as the consequence of the Japanese gold mining activities. From such history, the village situated southernmost of BantenProvince is called SawarnaVillage; sawarna means gold.
Recently, the village situated west of PelabuhanRatuBeach, Sukabumi District offers various tourism objects such as beaches, river, forest, rock climbing, caves and agro tourism. Numerous domestic and foreign visitors come to the village during holidays and weekends. For such potentials, the local government of BantenProvince has managed the village since 2000. In 2004, SuwarnaVillage was officially open for public visit as village tour destination.
B. Distinctive Feature
Entering the village at the first time, you will be amazed with the green vast rice field, awesome nature view, and numerous green plants scattered along the horizon. You can feel its fresh air that may rarely be found in big cities. Moreover, the local people are very friendly towards the visitors who want to enjoy the beauty of SawarnaVillage. Surely it would make your visit more comfortable.
Sawarna is the best place for you who like tracing the mystery buried inside the caves found in the village. Lalay and Lauk caves are highly recommended for this. This 100-metre-long cave offers wonderful stalagmites and stalactites ever. There is a subsoil river mixing with 10 – 15 centimetres mud flowing inside the cave of Lalay. The word lalay alone is derived from the Sundanese language that means bat. Indeed, the cave is the habitat for a number of bats.
Meanwhile, visitors are impressed with the cave‘s wide shaft where a quite deep river flows within. Since many fishes live inside this cave, people named the cave Lauk that literally means fish.
Not only are the caves at SawarnaVillage highly recommended as tourism objects, they are also the best places for treasurer hunters. There you can find the remaining traces of the Japanese Armed Forces such as wrecked jeeps, bicycles, bullets, cooking utensils, artillery mortars and bullions.
Likewise, you can enjoy the beauty of beaches at SawarnaVillage; that of Ciantir (Sawarna) and Tanjung Layar beaches. This three-km-long beach is famous for its grainy white sands that provide areas for sunbathing, beach football, and beach volleyball. To enjoy the most romantic moment of sunrise and sunset, PerawanBeach situated in the south of SawarnaVillage is the right place. Its waves would certainly challenge surfers to beat it. April to September is the time when many surfers compete to beat the wild wave of the beach. Meanwhile, TanjungLayarBeach is also famous for its barrier.
You can take photograph while standing on two big stones that resemble the shape of a stranded ship (thus it is named tanjung Layar that means the bay of sail). Likewise, you can enjoy awesome coral reef and underwater life as the water is quite clear.
If you want to feel the different experience, you can take a visit to agro-tourism areas around the village. There you could take a walk in the middle of green rice field, hunting for beautifully intricate stones in CisawarnaRiver, visiting fish market and enjoying the beauty of flora and fauna in nature preserve situated west of the village. Even you can have extreme sport such as rock climbing in the hills nearby the beach. Many interesting places to be visited are available for you who want to spend long holidays visiting red sugar maker, guitar craftsmans, Jean Louis Van Gought‘s graves, and the remnants of Kabayan, a legendary figure amongst the Sundanese people etc.
C. Location
SuwarnaVillage is administratively located at Kampong Gendol, DayahSub-district, Lebak District, Banten.
D. Access
SawarnaVillage lies about 250 kilometres away from Jakarta. It can be reached by taking private car and public transportation from Jakarta to BayahSub-district spending approximately seven hours.
For you who take private car or rented car, two different routes are available; that of Jakarta-Serang-Malimping-Bayah-Sawarna and Jakarta-Balaraja-Maja-Rangkasbitung-Malimping-Bayah-Sawarna.
For you who want to take public transport, you are supposed to stop at Bogor Bus Station. Then you may continue the trip to Pelabuhan Ratu. After arriving at Pelabuhan Ratu, you might go to Bayah Market or Bayah Bus Station before reaching the village by taking jeep or ojek. It is better you have been in Bayah Bus Station at 05.00 pm as jeep transport is available up to 05.00 pm.
E. Ticket Price
In the confirmation process.
F. Accommodation and other Facilities
Many facilities have been provided for the visitor by the management of SawarnaVillage. Homestays and villas are available there as well. Camping ground is also provided for you want to stay in outdoor area. You can find other facilities such as guides, shelters, restaurants, gazebos, and souvenirs shops. Likewise, a run way is available for you who take personal jet to reach the village.
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A. Brief Information Lebak District is one of popular tourism destinations in the province of Banten. It is famous for its villages that might offer you with picturesque nature views and the fresh air that is rarely found in big cities. Amongst them is Sawarna village, located at ... detail... »
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Yogyakarta City - D.I. Yogyakarta - Indonesia
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Central Maluku District - Maluku - Indonesia
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