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Batik from Giriloyo

After UNESCO officially announced batik as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity on October 2 2009 in Abu Dhabi, its image rise significantly as one of Indonesian heritages. All elements of Indonesian society are really proud of it and thus their appreciation upon batik rises. They show their pride and appreciation by wearing batik as working outfit and school uniform. However, wearing batik is not enough as an appreciation without knowing the history, the production proses, and the value of batik as a national heritage. Those are important to know, especially for Indonesian young generation, so that batik as a cultural icon will be everlasting.

To get well acquaintanced with batik, it is better for you to visit Giriloyo hamlet in the southern of Yogyakarta to learn everything about batik, especially batik tulis or batik handmade. Giriloyo, which is located in Bantul regency, is a production center of batik tulis. This place has at least 800 batik artisans, who are divided into some groups and assembled in an organization called "Paguyuban Batik Tulis Giriloyo". The establishment of the organization was intialized by the idea of Jogja Heritage Society [JHS] under the cooperation with Australian-Indonesia partnership soon after the 27 th May 2006 earthquake.

The activity of batik making in Giriloyo has been last since the establishment of the Royal Mausoleum of Mataram Kings. in Pajimatan hamlet in 1654. The Keraton official then asked several Abdi Dalem to keep the complex. The frequent interaction between the residents of Pajimatan and the abdi dalem open the villagers' view about batik Kraton, so they learned how to make such fine motives of batik.

As the time passed by, order of batik from Pajimatan rised significantly. On the other hand, the number of the maker was insufficient. Therefore, the Pajimatan batik artisans cooperated with the batik artisans Giriloyo. The system that they used in the cooperated at the time was like this: the half-done batik fabrics from Pajimatan were taken by the artisans from Giriloyo for the finishing process. After the finishing process was done, they brought the batik back to Pajimatan. From the cooperation, the Giriloyo artisans learned to make batik with such motives from Pajimatan and established their own batik industry. Thus, the name of Giriloyo batik is better known than Pajimatan batik "www.batiktulisgiriloyo.blogspot.com".

In addition to its fame as batik center, the Giriloyo batik artisans have successfully record their ability by making the longest batik in Indonesia [1,2 km]. It is recorded in the Indonesian Record Museum [MURI} which also marking their resurgence after the 2006 earthquake.

Varied motives of batik tulis Giriloyo

Every place has its own style of in every piece of batik they make, such as motive, coloring technique, as well as the production process. Although many batik artisans now print the motives on the fabric using such monotype and make modern batik motives, batik artisans from Giriloyo keep draw the motives manually. They also keep the motives classic and traditional, every which has its own philosophical value such as: Sido Asih [the person who wear the motive will have a harmonic family], Sido Mukti [if the motive is worn by a bride or groom, he/she will have a happy and wealthy life], Sido Mulyo [noble life], Truntum [spring love], Madu Bronto [love as sweet as honey], and many more.

Batik artisans making batik

Batik artisans in Giriloyo use two kinds of coloring, natural and synthetic. For the natural one, they take the colors from leaves, fruits, flowers, and other natural material. Red color is taken from morinda root, while blue color is taken from indigofera. Synthetic color is retrieved from chemicals.

However, the Giriloyo batik artisans agree to use natural coloring batter than the synthetic one to maintain the quality. Beside, the natural coloring gives more beautiful result. In addition to the traditional motive, the Giriloyo batik artisans also make minimalist motives which looks classic, graceful, and elegant. Some product of Giriloyo which use batik are traditional jarit, saroong, shirts, pillowcase, tablecloth, handkerchief, batik painting, and many more.

If you are interested to learn how to make batik, you should visit Giriloyo because as a batik center, Giriloyo also facilities its visitors with a special package of batik making. The package is prepared for minimum 10 people and maximum 50 people. In the package, you will be guided by batik artisans to make your own batik work which you can bring home. While you are waiting for your own batik work to be processed, you can take a walk to The Royal Mausoleum of Mataram Kings on the top of Imorgiri hill or tasting the local traditional menus such as pecel kembang turi, tiwul ayu, gurah tea, or wedang uwuh.


Location:
Giriloyo Batik Center is located on 1 km from the burial plot complex of mataram kings in Imogiri. Its exact location is in Giriloyo Hamlet, Wukirsari Village, Imogiri Sub-regency, Bantul Regency, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Komodo is an Indonesian island home to approximately 2,000 people who are mostly descendants of former convicts once exiled here. The island is part of Komodo National Park and is especially known for its native Komodo Dragon the world's largest living lizard !!!

In 1908, a unit of Netherlands army reported that they saw a dragon looking like a monster in southern island of East Nusa Tenggara Province. Knowing the news, Lieutenant Steyn van Hens Broek, a functional administrator of the Netherlands, wanted to prove it. Then, he prepared a unit of army whose office was in Flores to sail to that island.

Having arrived there, Lieutenant Steyn and his crew saw giant lizards which length was up to two meters. Steyn could kill one of those giant lizards and brought it to his office in Ende City. Then, this giant lizard was photographed and the picture was brought to Peter A. Ouwens, a director of Zoological Museum and Botanical Garden in Bogor. This was the first documentation of a giant lizard named Komodo. Therefore, in 1910 the Netherlands named the island as Komodo Island.

The result of that photography was published by a national daily newspaper of Netherlands in 1912. This publication made Komodo Island visited by the researchers, missionaries, and tourists. Realizing that Komodo was a special rare animal in 1915, the Netherlands government issued a rule about protection to this animal from hunting and killing.

As the name, Komodo Island is an which is known as the original of Komodo [Varanus Komodoensis]. The local people calls this animal as Ora. Until present day, Komodo still becomes a pride because it becomes a source of income for local people from the tourists who visit the island.


In this island, tourists can see Komodo which is the biggest lizard species around the world, with length of the body up to 3,13 meters and weight up to 165 kilograms. The tourists also can see several activities of this rare animal, such as the Komodo copulate which always happens between May until August; Komodo which is eating deer, goats, and pigs; and see Komodo which is sun-bathing on the road and on the branches of trees in the morning.

In 1980 the government made Komodo Island as the Komodo National Park to protect Komodo from extinction. Six years later, in 1986, this national park was accepted as the World Inheritance Site by UNESCO. This national park consists of two big island. They are Rinca Island and Padar Island surrounded by several small islands. The total wide of this national park was 1.817 kilometers square.



Location
Komodo Island is an located in the western area of East Nusa Tenggara Province bordered to the West Nusa Tenggara Province. Administratively, this island is included in the Komodo Sub-district, West Manggarai District, East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia.

Location:
Borobudur Temple lies at Borobudur Village, Borobudur Sub-district, in the district of Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia.

Merapi Volcano Museum

Indonesian lies on the junction of the earth plate. Consequently, Indonesia becomes a seismic zone. Morover, Indonesia is included the ring og fire of 500 volcanoes among which 129 are active. The number covers 13 percent of total active volcanoes in the world. It reaffirms that Indonesia is located in a disater-potential area. Therefore, there must be some mitigation effort to press the number of victims when disaster occurs.

Merapi Volcano Museum is a new tourist site at the southern slope of Merapi built to give solution to the above problem. This tourist object was designed as an ongoing conservation and education site as well as developing knowledge on volcanic disaster, earthquake, and other disaster. It was inaugurated on October 1, 2009 by the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Purnomo Yusgiantoro.

The slogan of the museum is "Merapi Jendela Bumi" [ Merapi the Window of the world]. It is 4.470 square meters and occupies as wide as 3,4 acres of land and it is a two-story building. The first floor contains museum collections which are divided into several rooms with different themes. There are the volcano world, on The Merapi Volcano Trail, Manusia dan Gunung Api [mankind and volcano], earthquake and Tsunami, Landslide, and other supporting facilities. The second floor functions as a theater showing movies about volcano. Currently it is still under construction.

Features:
Cool - rather cold - temperature welcomes you when you move from the parking area to the museum yard. If the weather is nice, you can see the elegant peak of Merapi and shady trees scenery behind the museum. Stepping on each stair-case of the museum yard will remind you of the main gate of Ratu Boko Temple complex. It is no exaggeration to say since the building concept of Merapi Volcano Museum is closely related to Javanese philosophical values. The architecture of the museum itself represents the shapes of temple [main gate and yard], Tugu Jogja [Jogja Monument-at the top of the building] and Mount Merapi [the entire building], and the concept of keraton [palace] as the world image [centripetal building plan].

Merapi Volcano Museum is designed to be the center of information, research, education and tourism on volcanoes all over the world in general and mount Merapi in particular. It is a worth-visiting site, Students from different level of education are suggested to visit this museum because there are many information presented complete with the visualization. Thus, the learning prosess about volcano will become more interesting and not boring.



Location Merapi Volcano Museum :
Merapi volcano museum is located at the southern slope of Mount Merapi, precisely at Boyong Street, Dusun Banteng, Desa Hargobinangun, Kecamatan Pakem, Kabupaten Sleman, Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Monument of National

The monument of National, which is known better as Monas [Monumen Nasional], is one of many monuments that the Indonesians built to remind them of the struggle of Indonesian soldiers to fight the Dutch for the independence of Indonesia. Monas was built to inspire the people of Indonesia and arouse patriotism to the coming generations. Monas is a historical monument.

The monument that soars up high symbolizes lingga [alu "rice pestle" or antan] that represents the culture of Indonesia. The terrace symbolizes yoni [rice barn]. Alu and lumbung are house hold instruments that almost all houses in Indonesia have.

The building of Monas was begun is August,1959, on an 80 Ha area of land. The architects were Soedarsono and Frederich Silaban, and their consultant was Ir. Rooseno. The Monument was opened on August 17th, 1961 by The President of  The Republic of Indonesia, Soekarno, and officially opened for public on July 12th, 1975.

Monas is special for its unique shape. An obelisk made of marble shaped lingga yoni as tall as 137m. At the top of Monas, there is a cup that holds the 14,5 tons of bronze torch flame covered with 35 kg of gold. The flame or torch is the symbol of the Indonesian soldiers' struggle for freedom. The top terrace is an 11x11 that can accommodate 50 people. Around the elevator, it has emergency stairs made of iron.

From the terrace of the top of Monas, visitors can enjoy the view of the tumult of Jakarta. At the south, visitor can see Mount Salak stands tall. At the north, they can see the open seas and the small islands. At the west, they can see Soekarno-Hatta Airport and planes that are taking off or landing. At the top terrace, 17 more metera up, there is a 14,5 tons flame or torch made of bronze with 6 m diameters that 77 united parts.



Location: The National Monument is located in Jalan Medan Merdeka, Central Jakarta.

Access: Monas is a tourism place located in the center of the city. This makes the access easy. Visitors can go there by city bus or personal vehicle. The Monument and the Museum are opened everyday, starts from 09.00 - 16.00 WIB [local time].

Besides enjoying the beautiful view Monas and at the top of Monas, visitors can also enjoy other tourism places around Monas. There is Monas Park where visitors can sit back and relax in. The park has a fountain and a statue of Prince Diponegoro [he was ane of Indonesia national independence heroes] riding a horse made of bronze. Under the ground floor of Monas, there is also a national historical museum that can accommodate 500 people. Not far from there, there are hotels and restaurants for the visitors to stay and eat.

Traditional Market Beringharjo

In the city with outstanding historical and cultural heritage and and the center of Mataram Dynasty from 1575-1640, the local government will continue to improve the concept and management of traditional markets to back the tourists who visit the place for pleasure. With several thousand-year-old temples of the ninth century by the dynasty of Syailendra, Yogyakarta also has beautiful natural panorama with green rice fields cover the suburban areas with a background of volcanic Mount Merapi.

The city, in which the people live in peace with typical Javanese hospitality, has numerous traditional markets where the exchange of goods and services take place as a result of buyers and sellers being in contact with one another. In the modern industrial system, however, the traditional markets in Yogyakarta will not be places for transaction only but their concept and management will also be developed to support the tourism.

"With a better concept and management, the traditional markets will function not only as the place of transaction but also of recreational fun," Yogyakarta Mayor Herry Zudianto said at Beringharjo market in Yogyakarta over the weekend. He said the concept and management of traditional markets should at least be the same as that of malls and other shopping centers in the country.

Fauna and Ornamental Plants Market [Pasthy Market] is one of traditional market in Yogyakarta that has developed its concept and management to become a recreational fun tourists who will discover sincere smiles and warm greeting in every corner of the city.

"At Pathy Market the visitors will not do the shoping only but they can also stroll through the market while enjoying the atmosphere and feeding their eyes with the animals and ornamental plants being sold there," Herry said. According to him, similar concept and management had also been developed at Yogyakarta arts and crafts market, called "XT-Square" which would start operating in July this year.

Herry said the government has been committed to developing [Asparindo] spokesman Suhendro said the condition but in Yogyakarta they are good enough," Suhendro said.

Therefore he expressed hope that the government would continue to develop the concept and management of traditional markets to support tourism. While Beringharjo Market's traders association chairman Ujun Junaedi also expressed hope that Yogyakarta city government would have a high commitment to improving the traditional market development.

Having been functioning as a traditional place since 1758, Beringharjo market is now offering more merchandise, ranging from batik, traditional snacks, Javanese herbs, to Buddha effigy costing hundreds thousands rupiah.

In September last year the World Health Organization [WHO] provided US$2,400 to support a program to improve the sanitary health insfrastructure of Argosari traditional market in GUnung KIdul district, Yogyakarta.

Wilfred M Purba, a health ministry official said at the time that the financial assistance was given under a cooperation agreement between the ministry and WHO.

"The program has a non-physical aspect, namely to change the public perception that traditional markets as disorder, untidy, and dirty, and to enable them to compete with modern market, the market visitors," Wilfred said at the time. According to Wilfred, the best way to create a healthy traditional market was changing the market stakeholders behavior, namely the behavior of the people selling their goods in the market, the market visitors, the market traders association and the market management.

He said altering the stakeholders behavior was important to change the traditional market's image in addition to the provision of supporting facilities needed to keep the market healthy, clean, neat and pleasant to see, especially by the tourists visiting the area.

Besides, rural tourism in Yogyakarta is also predicted to have good prospects in 2011, Widya Budaya Foundation chairperson Widi Utaminingsih has early this month. "The rural tourism potential will complement the diversity of tourism attractions in Yogyakarta special province," Widi said, adding that rural tourism in the province should continue to be developed.

Therefore she said both the regional and provincial governments should make every effort to develop the rural tourism potential to attract as many foreign and domestic tourists as possible this year.
"Every rural tourism in Yogyakarta has its own typical atmosphere namely the culture and tradition, arts, as well as natural breathtaking scenery," Widi said.

Prambanan Temple

Prambanan Temple is the biggest Hindu temple complex in Indonesia and South East Asia. Prambanan is also known as Rara Jonggrang Temple. It was built at around 850 BC by Sanjaya Dynasty. Prambanan occupies as wide 39,8 acres of land. In 1991 it was contended by the UNESCO world Wonder Heritage. Soaring to 47 meters or 5 meters higher than Borobudur Temple, Prambanan looks dauntless and sturdy. This agrees with the purpose of its establishment, to show the glory of Hindu civilization in Java.

How come it is called Rara Jonggrang Temple? The Javanese people believe a legend that explains it. Once, a prince named Bandung Bondowoso fell in love with princess Rara Jonggrang. The princess rejected his marriage proposal because he had killed King Boko and ruled her kingdom. Bondowoso insisted and she was forced to bond in a marriage. But she posed an impossible condition: he must build her a thousand spirits to assist him. Knowing this, the princess woke the palace maids and the village women to begin pounding rice and fire in the east of the temple as if the sun was about to rise.
The prince managed in building his 999 temples when the cocks began to crow. The supernatural spirits returned into the ground and Bondowoso failed to make the last temple. Furious about the trick, he cursed Roro Jonggrang into the one thousandth and most beautiful statue.

Prambanan temple is the manifestation of Hindu civilization in Java. It is apparent in the temple structure which represents the core of Hinduism called Trimurti. Prambanan complex has 3 main temples at the main yard, Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva Temples. The three temples are symbols of Trimurti in Hinduism. Each temple has a supplementary temple namely Nandini for Shiva, Angsa for Brahma, and Garuda for Vishnu. In addition, there are two candi apit [literally means intercalated temple], 4 candi kelir [backdrop temple], and 4 candi sudut [corner temple]. Meanwhile, the second yard has 224 temples.

The others must-see feature is the beauty of the relief on the temple wall. Ramayana story becomes the main relief. However, there is another sophisticated relief namely the kalpataru tree which in Hinduism is considered as tree of life, eternity and nature harmony. At Prambanan Temple, the relief of kalpataru tree is portrayed flanking a lion. The tree explains the 9th century Javanese wisdom in managing their environment.

Visitors who want to satisfy their curiosity about the history of Prambanan Temple can visit a museum in this complex. In this museum, visitors can watch the complete audio visual footage of the history of Prambanan  its discovery to its latests renovation. For visitors who take their family along, Prambanan temple provides a playing ground for children and mini carriages to take them around the resort.

One of the tourist events worth watching is the Ramayana Ballet. The Ramayana Ballet is a performance which combines various Javanese arts such as dance, play, and music in one stage and one moment to present Ramayana story, a legendary epic written in Sanskrit by Walmiki. The Ramayana story is a translation of the relief of Prambanan Temple.



Location Prambanan Temple


Prambanan Temple is located at Prambanan Village which is administratively divided into two regions: Sleman Regency of Yogyakarta Province and Klaten Regency of Central Java.