Indonesian Museums

Museum Nasional

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 Sangiranmuseum of paleontology and anthropology.  

Central Museum (elephant-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 JI. Merdeka Barat 12, Jakarta.

Sangiran Museum
Small museum in this village, 15 km from Solo, displays prehistoric 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.

Taman Fatahilla Museum
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 past. 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 harbour 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 boats 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 JI. Pasar Ikan, Phone: 6693406 Jakarta.

National Museum (Monas)
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 Monas Jakarta.

Satria Mandala 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 armoured 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.

Textile Museums
The Textile Museum on Jalan Sasuit Tubun in Jakarta, 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 user to pay fines, avert illness or for other social and religious purposes. Some of the oldest Indonesian ornamental designs arc found in their original textiles.

Museums Indonesia TMII
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.

Sono Budoyo Museum
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.

Rajapustoko Museum
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 JI. 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, maquetes etc. The fossilized skull of Pithecanthropus erectus, the celebrated prehistoric "Java Man" is kept here.

Postal/stamp Museum

Inscriptitions Museum

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 Sumatera, the Makkasar Museum in the former Fort Rotterdam at Ujung Pandang, South Sulawesi and the Simalungun Museum at Pematang Siantar, North Sumatera.

Courtesy of Indonesian-Tourism

Way Kambas - Lampung

Way Kambas was named a National Park in 1937, and is one of the oldest parks of Indonesia. Way Kambas mainly consists of freshwater swamps and also includes one of the few locations of dipterocarpaceae, an important part of the lowland rainforest, and that makes the difference with other Sumateran parks. The coast is covered in mangroves nipapalms and casuarina's (cemara).Way Kambas was declared a reserve because of the fauna; unfortunately most of the original forest was chopped down. Commercial important products like damar (a raisin which is used when making varnish _, wood, honey and animals are still substracted to the area. During the last 30 years the rainforests of Southern Sumatera are chopped to make place for plantations and transmigration settlements. Of all homeless animals the elephants caused the biggest problems by destroying crops and even by attacking houses. Villagers complained about the fact that the elephants were free to go anywhere, while they were not able to do anything, since the elephants are a protected animal. Way Kambas National Park is a large national park covering 1,300 square kilometres in Lampung province, south Sumatra, Indonesia.Way Kambas consists of swamp forest and lowland rain forest, but was extensively logged before becoming a reserve in 1972 so there is little primary forest. The reserve still has a few Sumatran Tigers and reasonable numbers of elephants. It is also provides excellent birdwatching, with the rare White-winged Duck among the species present. Another special feature of this national park is the Sumatran Rhinoceros still present in the area. Only 275 remain in South East Asia today. In Way Kambas a managed breeding center or Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary (SRS) has been build up in 1995. At this moment 5 Sumatran Rhinos live at the Sanctuary, most have been translocated from zoos to the large enclosures (with natural habitat) at the SRS.

How to get to Way Kambas
Loud noise goes through the jungle when a young elephant fights with thick cables which are attached to a wooden frame. The young, wild elephant is adopted in the first elephant training program in Indonesia, which shoud make him into a powerfull and easy animal. The elephant training centre (Pusat Latihan Gajah) is located in Kandangsari, in National Park Way Kambas.
The main entrance of Way Kambas can be reached from the village of Tridatu, ten km north of Jepara. The turn to the right is clear. From Bandar Lampung it's about two hours by car and from the ferry terminal in Bakauheni about three hours (seven hours in total from Jakarta). Be sure you arrive during office hours, so the park servants can give you permission.
Way Kambas is the best spot in Indonesia to watch wild elephants; an estimated 250 live here. After the animals are catched, they are tought two times a day, in the morning and in the afternoon. These lessons are also for training of the local mahouts, which each have their own elephant. People hope that the elephants will create a source of income and pride, and that the sons will eventually take over the work of dad later on.
Way Kanan, 13, 5 km past the entrance of the park, is a simple guesthouse. Park rangers can bring visitors without transport there for a small fee. Food has to be brought by you, cooking will happen on an open fire. Most people rather make a day trip to the reserve, and let their visit coinside with the lessons in the trainin centre.
There are much more other animals in Way Kambas. Along the road to Way Kanan observing Javanese monkeys and the more heavy-built laponder monkeys show themselves to the visitors, before jumping in the dense rainforests, while families of wild pigs regularly cross the road. Early in the morning it's the siamang apes, gibbons and birds which create a very nice concert.
Take from Way Kambas a boat which goes downstream towards the sea and ask for the motor to be turned off, so you can float with the stream, and enjoy the magnificent rainforest. On the riverbanks, dragons live, which slip into the river at almost any noise, Giant squirrels and monkeys shoot over from tree to tree.
For bird-lovers which have a little more time, there is an alternative route to the park, via the southern harbour Labuhan Maringgai. From here it's about four hours by boat along the coast to the rivermouth of Way Kambas. The river can be used by boat for another 25 km, and from the boat you can see various spiecies of birds.
During the wet season (November until March), the higher waterlevel offers an excellent opportunity to explore the swamp-floors, which normally can't be accessed by canoo.

Courtessy of indahnesia

Picture by Boston

Nusa Barong

Nusa Barong a 6,100 hectares island to the south of Jember, is a part of nature Conservation Park under the protection of Balai Konservasi Sumber Daya Alam (BKSDA) II/Natural Resources Conservation Centre II East Java. Located 12 km south-west of the Meru Betiri National Park, on the south coast of Java, this area are still in Jember regent which is a part of East Java Province. The island consists of limestone with high cliffs. Most of the area is dry and mountainous. Several birds and sea turtles breed on the island. Other creatures to be found are crabs, snails, limpets and ... sand flies. The myths about this isolated island only add the challenge to come and prove them. Calm water makes fishing a good pastime here. Once and a while, dolphins swim nearby the boats.

You can reach the island with a boat from Puger. Puger is reached from Jember.
Nusa Barong is a limestone island with spectacular cliffs rising to 325m and some coastal mangrove swamps. The island is about six km from north to south, and 16 km from east to west. Most of the island is hilly; there are several deeply indented bays on the northeast coast which provide sheltered anchorages for visiting fishermen. Because of its limestone substrate, the island is almost completely dry with no rivers and only a few natural ponds where animals may find standing water.
According to TEMPO Interactive, Jember: Jember Nature Conservation Center (BKSDA) rejected plans of the regency administration to turn Nusa Barong Island into a tourist destination. They said the uninhabited island locating 4, 5 kilometer in the Puger coast in Southern Jember is a nature conservation area.
"If they want to change the status of the island, they must get authorization permission from the Forestry Minister and the House of Representatives (DPR)," said East Java BKSDA chief. Yet, at the end of 2007, the BKSDA sent a map and regulations covering nature conservation areas to all provincial executive chiefs, including the Jember regent.
However, we still hope to see the amazing spectacular scene but still we have protect the naturallity.

Pic. by Nusabarong blogspot