Carriages on view at Yogyakarta palace<\/p>\n
By Tarko Sudiarno<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA (JP): In the next century or two, Sultan Hamengku
\nBuwono X's Baby Mercedes Benz may well share the same fate as the
\ncarriages owned by his predecessors, and be preserved in a museum
\nas sacred heirlooms.<\/p>\n
Horse-drawn carriages owned by Yogyakarta sultans, from Sultan
\nHamengku Buwono I to Sultan Hamengku Buwono VIII, are now well-
\nkept and well-maintained as sacred objects in the Ndalem
\nRatawijayan palace carriage museum in Yogyakarta. They are all in
\ngood condition and in their original form.<\/p>\n
These royal carriages are called Titihan Dalem and each has
\nits own story. In the museum are, among others, the Kanjeng Nyai
\nJimat, Kanjeng Kyai Garudhayeksa, Kyai Harsunaba, Kyai
\nWimanaputra, Kyai Mandrajuwala, Kyai Maniqretna, Kyai Jaladara,
\nKyai Jongwiyat, Kyai Jathayu, Kyai Guthokaharya, Kyai Puspaka
\nManik, Kyai Kusgading and Kyai Ratapralaya carriages.<\/p>\n
As is true of other royal heirlooms, these horse-drawn
\ncarriages bear the royal honorific title of kanjeng kyai or, when
\nreferring to a male, kyai. Just like other heirlooms kept in the
\npalace, these carriages are given offerings on certain days and
\nwashed in the month of Sura in the Javanese calendar in a special
\nritual.<\/p>\n
Every time the ritual is held, hundreds of people gather and
\ncompete with one another to collect drops of the water used to
\nwash the carriages. This water is believed to have magic
\nproperties.<\/p>\n
Of all the carriages in the royal museum, the oldest and the
\none that earns the greatest respect is Kanjeng Nyai Jimat. This
\nwas used by Sultan Hamengku Buwono I and is estimated to have
\nbeen made between 1750 and 1760 by a carriage maker in the
\nNetherlands. Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono I received the carriage
\nas a gift from Dutch governor general Jacob Mossel.<\/p>\n
For most of the year the carriage is covered with a spotlessly
\nclean cloth, the type usually used as a mosquito net. It is
\nremoved only once a year, when the carriage is washed.<\/p>\n
This carriage used to be drawn by eight horses. A guide,
\nlocally known as a plaer, would ride the leading one. The sultan
\nwould ride in this carriage when there were major official
\nceremonies, such as the ceremony marking the coronation of a
\nking.<\/p>\n
Kanjeng Nyai Jimat is addressed as a married woman because
\nthere is a statue of a mermaid with uplifted palms under the seat
\nof the coachman. Now the statue is rather darkened in color
\nbecause of the incense which is often burned near it.<\/p>\n
There is an interesting story about the origin of this
\ncarriage. Traditional Washing Rites for Heirlooms at Yogyakarta
\nPalace, published by the education and culture ministry in
\n1988\/1989, contains a folk story featuring the carriage that
\nsmacks of mysticism.<\/p>\n
According to the story, the carriage was dragged from the sea
\nby Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono I while fishing in the South Sea
\n(the Indonesian ocean). The sultan heard a magically whisper that
\nhe should take good care of the carriage so he made it one of the
\npalace's heirlooms.<\/p>\n
Legend also has it that the carriage originated in an Indian
\nkingdom. At one time the kingdom was suffering a terrible plague.
\nA healer attributed the plague to the royal carriage and
\nsuggested that it should be thrown in the Indian ocean. The king
\nand his people did as the healer suggested and the waves took the
\ncarriage to Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
The other royal carriages in the museum were also made in
\nEurope. The Kanjeng Kyai Garudhayeksa carriage, for example, was
\nordered by Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono VI in 1870 and used by the
\nthree sultans who followed him.<\/p>\n
It is pulled by eight horses and was made by a Dutch carriage
\nmaker. During the ceremony marking the coronation of the present
\nruler of the Yogyakarta sultanate, Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X,
\nthe carriage was used in a procession round the palace.<\/p>\n
Sultan Hamengku Buwono VI also ordered a large carriage from
\nthe Netherlands. Previously, he had ordered some smaller
\ncarriages from Barendse, a carriage maker in Semarang, Central
\nJava. In 1860, he ordered two carriages each drawn by four
\nhorses, later called Kanjeng Harsunaba, to attend events of less
\nsignificance, and the Kanjeng Wimanaputra, which was specially
\nmade available for the crown prince.<\/p>\n
Other European-made carriages include Kyai Mandrajuwala, made
\nby a Dutch carriage maker under order of Sultan Hamengku Buwono
\nIII; Kyai Jongwiyat, made in 1880 by Hermans & Co., a Dutch
\ncarriage maker based in The Hague, the Netherlands; Kyai
\nGuthokaharya, made by Ed Kulitsteni in Berlin, Germany; Kyai
\nPuspoko Manik, made by Spyker Amsterdam, the Netherlands; and
\nKyai Kusgadhing, made by Henrich Veth Arwhem, also in the
\nNetherlands.<\/p>\n
The museum also keeps a fairly large carriage made by a
\ncarriage maker in Yogyakarta in 1938 when the sultanate was under
\nthe rule of Sultan Hamengku Buwono VIII. The carriage is called
\nKyai Ratapralaya because it is drawn by eight horses and is used
\nas a hearse. The body of Sultan Hamengku Buwono VIII and that of
\nSultan Hamengku Buwono IX are among the royal corpses that the
\ncarriage has carried.<\/p>\n
All these royal carriages now occupy their own place as
\nheirlooms in the royal museum. Who knows if in a century or two
\nthey will be joined by the Baby Mercedes Benz now being driven by
\nSri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X?<\/p>",
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