Temples

Kalasan Temple.

This unique Buddhist Temple is located at 16 km at eastern side of Yogyakarta, on the south side of the main road connecting Yogyakarta and Prambanan. This temple was built in the commemoration of the marriage of King Prancapana Sanjaya Dynasty with his bride Princess Dyah Pramudya Wardhani Cailendra Dynasty. It has beautiful ornamented with fine carved relief and coated with "vajralepa": a yellowfish material made of the sap of certain tree. The vajralepa had been used to protect the ornament against moss and mildew, and to refine the carving as well. This temple is 24 m high and its groundwork is built in the form of a Greek Cross.

Plaosan Temple.
This temple is about 1 km at the east of the Sewu Temple. This Buddhist temple consists of two main temples standing side by side, each having terraces bases. The relief carved on the southern main temple portrays a man, and the other one show a woman. Another peculiar object that is interesting to see is its "perwara" temple for its 'slender stupa'.

Sewu Temple.
This temple is located just several hundred meters north-east of Prambanan Temple. It is a large and vast Buddhist's temple including several other small temples like Lumbung, Asu, Bubrah, and Lor Kulon Temple.

Museums

Sonobudoyo Museum.

The Sonobudoyo Museum is located on the northern side of the north square of Sultan's Palace. It was built in 1935 with Javanese architecture. The architecture of the gateway resembles to the entrance of the mosque in Kudus Town especially in the construction of pathway to the auditorium. Sonobudoyo is the second most complete collection of cultural artefacts. Visitors can observe ceramics from the Neolithic Age,original statues and bronze-articles collected from temple in Central Java, various kinds of puppets, masks, and wayang, to heirlooms and artefacts from Bali. Sonobudoyo Museum also has an interesting library that keeps various collections of ancient books related to Javanese culture.

Perjuangan Museum.
This museum is located in Colonel Sugiyono Street. It is a cylindrical building, uniquely roofed in the shape of a crown with its outer walls portray relief anout the history of Indonesian's struggle for independence before and after the Declaration of Independence in August 17th 1945. The collection consists of historical articles during the time of the revolution for independence.

Dirgantara Mandala Museum.
This museum is located in Adisucipto Air Force Base complex. This museum keeps pictures and models of aeroplanes left by Japanese army which were used by the Indonesian Air Force during struggle for independence. The models including fighting, transportation, and excercise aeroplanes. Besides that, this museum keeps any weapons that used by Indonesian Special Air Force.

Royal Ceremonies

Garebeg.
There are 3 kinds of gerebeg : Garebeg Maulud, Garebeg Syawal and Garebeg Besar.

Garebeg Maulud . Hold on the 12 th of Maulud - the third month in Javanese calendar - to commemorate the birth of Mohammed the Holy Prophet. For about a week, the people of Yogyakarta celebrate this event with a festival called Sekaten. At the end of this festival the Kraton's soldiers in their traditional and colourful uniforms will be on marching - squad escort the gunungan (mountain-shaped cones, containing rice and ornamented with vegetables, fruits and other foodstuffs) carried from quarter of the Sultan's Palace to the Great Mosque. After the praying ceremony in the mosque, some of the gunungan will be distributed among those attending the ceremoni.
Garebeg Syawal. Held on 1 th of Syawal - the tenth of Javanese calendar- after the end of the fasting month of Ramadhan.
Garebeg Maulud. Held on the 10 th of the last month of Javanese calendar to celebrate the religious festival based on the Abraham's faith-test whether he intended to sacrifice one of his sons as a taken absolute loyalty to God or not.

Labuhan.
Labuhan is hold to celebrate the birth of Sultan Hamengku Buwono. Labuh in Javanese means throw something to the river or to the sea.
The offering from the Yogyakarta Sultanate Palace consist of food, and cuttings of fingernails and hair of Sultan that will be thrown to the South Sea (Hindia Ocean). The offering is intends to be presented to the Goddes of the South Sea, Ratu Kidul. It is believed that by performing the ceremony, the King and the people of Yogyakarta will get their welfare. The same ceremony is also hold on the top of Mount Merapi and Lawu.

Traditional Transportations

Gerobag.

Known as traditional village transport, this carriage pulled byone or two cows is found mostly on rural roads. Usually, the villagers use gerobag to carry the crops and available for hire to other special occasions.

Becak.
The becak is popular form of local transport and Yogya has more becaks than anywhere else in Indonesia. A forl of rickshaw with the driver pedalling you from the back, the becak are cheap and delightful form of transport and carry anything from people to serious amounts of goods. Each becak usually has its own style, decked out with personal touches and has a folding roof that can be raised to protect passengers from the strong tropical sun or rain. Fares should be bargained for and fixed before the ride commenses and becaks can be rented by the trip or by the hour.

Andhong.
These horse drawn carriages can still be found playing their trade in the city and most often seen on rural roads in and around Yogya. They are popular for larger groups and often hired out for special occasions such as wedding. Slow but sure, andhongs are a highly enjoyable way to enjoy the peaceful rise-fields and rural views of the area at a leisure pace. As with becaks, fares should be bargained and fixed before the ride commences.

Special Places

Malioboro.

Malioboro Street is both the main shopping place and the main street that runs through the heart of Yogya City from the Tugu Railway Station at one to the Kraton at the other. Malioboro is also the area containing many losmens and small hotels and it is full of shops, restaurants, and services offering great bargains for the visitors. At night, the stalls along the street selling souvenirs and small items, roll up and the evening "lesehan" begin. This is a Yogya tradition where people sit out at night by gas-light on straw mats to chat, drink tea, eat snacks, and enjoy the cool evening air. Besides that, people can see any attraction like art carnival and passing out parade of Indonesian Air Force Academy.



As a part of Sultan's Palace, Malioboro contains non-physical cultural features. It means that Malioboro and its building have symbolic meaning. These are visualizing each symbol. The first visualization is Central Post Office across section. It is human ways symbol. The second one is Beringharjo Market. It is materialism symbol. The third one is Kepatihan. Patih is high level official under the sultan. It is power and status symbol. All of them are human life temptation. The last one is Tugu. It is human life success to reach perfection life symbol.

Kota Gede Silver Village.
Yogyakaeta's silverware is well known with its distinctive design. It is produced by punching the pattern into the silver from the inside to produce a relief pattern on the outside. Display rooms sell a huge variety of pieces : tea sets, candlesticks, bracelet, rings and necklace. The famous silver centre of Yogya is Kota Gede. This street are lined with busy silver workshops where visitors are welcome to wander around and watch the silversmiths at work. Here, there are numerous shops that sell silver craft. There are also excellent bargains to be found in these outlets. Kota Gede is within easy distance of central Yogyakarta as it lies only 5 km to southeast.

Kasongan Pottery Village.
Kasongan is a small village about 6,5 km from Yogya which became famous for its many pottery workshops. Dozens of pottery workshops produce a wide range of pots as well as animal figures. Arrangements can be made to ship overseas any pieces too large or fragile to be carried away by hand.

Monumental Buildings

Tugu Monument.

One of the monuments that stand as a silent witness to Yogyakarta's development is Tugu or column. It is also called as White Paal Tugu. The original Tugu was actually built to commemorate the establishment of Yogyakarta Sultanate in 1755. It was collapsed because of earthquake and replaced by a new form of construction shaped differently the former of cylindrical Tugu.
March 1st Monument.
Monumen 1 Maret or March 1st Monument is located exactly next to Fort Vredeburg. It was built to commemorate the total offensive attack on March 1st, 1949 when Indonesian guerillas fighters succeeded in reoccupying Yogyakarta for 6 hours in order to prove the world that Indonesia still possess power and exist to struggle for independence.

Historical Building

Sultan's Palace.
The Sultan's Palace or Kraton, with its grand and elegant Javanese architecture, lay in the centre of the city. It was founded by Prince Mangkubumi in 1755. He choose the right place for the site of the building, right between Winongo River and Code River a swamp area that dried up then.
The Sultan's Palace stretches from north to south. The front yard of the Palace is called Alun-Alun Utara (North Square) and the backyard is called Alun-Alun Selatan (South Square). The design of this historical building showsthatthe Palace, the obelisk (the Tugu, column), Mount Merapi and Hindia Oceans positioned in a line. It is believed that the axis is blessed. In the past, Sultan is used to concentrate his mind along this axis before leading a meeting, making decision, or giving order to his people.
Each part of the building has its own name. The Palace meeting hall is called Pagelaran. Manguntur tangkil Hallis the place where the Sultan has his seat. This hall is in the Siti Hinggil or high land because this place was built higher than any ground around it. The building where the Sultan lives is called Gedong Kuning.
Visiytors of the Palace can enjoy the atmosphere of the Palace as it was centuries ago. Wedding ceremonies and Palace meetings often held with puppet shows to help re- create the ancient setting. Many sets of gamelan instruments, antiques, and heirlooms make the Sultan's Palace as one of the most interesting tourists site in Yogyakarta.

Pakualam's Palace.
Along with the Kraton, Yogya has another palace called Puro Pakualaman, the residence of Pakualam. It was built in between 1812 and 1813 by Prince Notokusumo, brother of Sultan Hamengku Buwono II.

Taman Sari Water Castle.
Taman Sari means beautiful park. It is about 10 minutes walk from the Sultan's Palace south west ward. It was built by Sultan Hamengku Buwono I in 1757. He created a new style that was a combination of Javanese and Portuguese architecture. Taman Sari was once a beautiful and sophisticated water-park. The castle omce has a place for relaxation and entertainment as well, a unique mechanism of defense.
The water which flows within Taman Sari was not only to beautify the castle but it also functioned as a secred weapon to avoid dangers.Whenever the enemies attacked, Sultan and his family would flew away through the underground passage. When all Sultan's family was already in a safe place, the Watergate would be openedand the wster would overflow the passages so that the enemy would be sunk.

Vredeburg Fort.
Vredeburg Fort is situated exactly to face with Gedung agung. It was built by the Dutch in 1765 during the domination. It was built in order to anticipate the cannon shot from the Sultan's troops. It function was also to protect the occupation of the Dutch Residence. This fort is surrounded by moats that still can be seen until now. The fort is rectangular shaped, with kind of citadel (bastions) on its four corner, which enable Dutch's soldiers to walk around and aim a good shoot. From the base of the cannon on the southern bastions, visitors may enjoy wonderful views of Sultan's Palace and other historical buildings aroundand certainly traffic busy of Yogyakarta.

Gedung Agung.
This building is located on the western of Malioboro Street. It was used to the residence of the Dutch Resident. It was also functioned as the residence of the President Soekarno, the first Indonesian President, when the capital of Indonesia was temporary in Yogyakarta during 1946-1949.

Masjid Agung (The Grand Mosque)
It can be found on the western side of the north square. It's a place for praying and holding Islamic religious ceremonies like Sekaten and Garebeg. The Grand Mosque provides is designed with traditional architecture.

Kotagede Royal Cemetery.
Kota gede lies about 5 km southeast of Yogyakarta. In this old city, tourist can visit the cemetery of the Mataram Kings like Panembahan Senopati-the founder of Mataram Kingdom. There is also the unique tomb of Ki Ageng Mangir. He was Panembahan Senopati's son in law and his enemy at the same time. His body was buried half outside the complex.

Tugu Monument.
One of the monuments that stand as a silent witness to Yogyakarta's development is Tugu, which means column. The original Tugu was actually built to commemorate the establishment of Yogyakarta Sultanate in 1755. It was collapsedonce and rebuilt in a new form of construction shaped differently from the former cylindrical Tugu.

Beringharjo Traditional Market.
Yogya's central market has been established in the same location north of the Kraton since its founded in the 18th century. Visitors enter a different world here, full of narrow aisles and stalls piled high with fruits, clothing, batik, food, and traditional crafts. A great place to bargain for special things.

Ngasem Bird Market.
Ngasem Market is a fascinating place for visitors. It has parrots, orioles,, roosters, singing turtle doves, and even eagles plus such other animals like squirrels, rabbits, guinea pigs and monkeys.

About Yogyakarta

Yogyakarta is one of Indonesian provinces known as Special Territory of Yogyakarta. As a province, Yogyakarta including 5 regions : Sleman Regency, Bantul Regency, Kulonprogo Regency, Gunungkidul Regency and Yogyakarta City. Yogya, the cultural heart of Java, lies between two of Java's mystical symbols : Mount Merapi, the still active volcano and sacred mountain in the north and bordered to the south by Indonesian Oceans, home of the "Queen of South Seas".
Yogya is a city of great artistic and cultural heartland diversity. Proud of its long Javanese cultural heritage, Yogya over the years has attracted large numbers of painters, dancers and writers to settle here.
Yogya is simultaneously a traditional Javanese city and stronghold youthful and innovative thinking thanks to thousands of students attending the many universities located here. Everything from the ancient to the modern is accepted easily and naturally, and is quickly assimilated into the rich and complex fabric of Yogya's heterogeneous heritage. Due to its important role in the Indonesian struggle, Yogyakarta has a special status.
Yogya is also known as a center of educational. There are many institutions so that everybody who wants to continue his education can choose he wants.