Diponegoro story comes alive at museum
Diponegoro story comes alive at museum
Leony Aurora, Jakarta
Most Indonesians remember Javanese prince Diponegoro as a
national hero who led a war on horseback against the Dutch
colonizers in Yogyakarta from 1825 to 1830.
But few recall the crux of the story -- that Diponegoro was
tricked into his arrest by the Dutch. Still fewer know he spent
three weeks imprisoned in old Batavia's Stadhuis, or City Hall,
now the Jakarta Historical Museum on Jl. Taman Fatahillah in West
Jakarta.
On Sunday, the museum staged a play about this part of the
Diponegoro story, covering his arrest in Kedu, Central Java, to
the time he left Jakarta in exile.
"We wanted to attract more people to the museum," said museum
head Tinia Budiati.
The epic four-act play involved some 70 foreigners and
Indonesians. All wore period costume -- blue uniforms and black
boots for Dutch soldiers and white cloaks and turbans for
Diponegoro and his followers.
Diponegoro was the son of Sultan Hamengkubuwono III, the ruler
of Yogyakarta. Furious after the Dutch took away his land in
1825, the prince left the palace and began a guerrilla war
against the colonizers, with nobles, clerics and peasants joining
his side.
At 10 a.m. on Sunday, visitors of the museum were transported
back to 1830s Remo Kamal in Central Java. In February 1830, tired
of fighting, Diponegoro agreed to meet with Dutch general de Kock
to negotiate peace under a guarantee he would not be harmed.
As it was the Muslim fasting month, Diponegoro and his
entourage then went to Magelang in Central Java to await the
passing of hari raya, after which they would resume negotiations.
In this scene, the audience were invited to take part in the
play, cheering the hero as he came riding in on his horse.
But among the cheers, some in the crowd were heard to comment:
"How come Diponegoro is so small?" The actor who played the part,
Muhammad Haerudin, was about 1.6 meters tall.
"Noblemen (of the time) were indeed small," Tinia said,
"because they often fasted and meditated." Although they were not
big or burly, people respected them as they radiated charisma,
she said.
On March 28, 1830, Diponegoro rode alone to the Dutch Kedu
residency, as earlier agreed, despite warnings from clerics he
might be walking into a trap.
Their premonitions came true when the Dutch arrested the
prince after the tough negotiations broke down. Diponegoro was
taken to Batavia before he was exiled in Manado. Afterwards, he
was moved to Makassar, where he died in 1855.
"Diponegoro was kept on the second floor (of the Stadhuis),
not the dungeon, because he was a nobleman," Tinia said.
Visitors were taken to the room where the prince and his
entourage were confined. A crowd of about 150 people followed the
story to the end, although many scenes took place in front of the
museum under the burning sun.
Despite the sometimes stuttered dialogue and amateur acting,
the play ended at 1 p.m. with warm applause.
"None of the actors were paid," Tinia said. The foreign actors
are employees of the English Education Centre, while the
Indonesians belong to the Krisnadwipayana University theater.
"Maybe next year we'll put on (a play about) Cut Nyak Dien,
who was also once imprisoned here," Tinia said, referring to a
famous Acehnese heroine.
Diponegoro was the third historical reenactment organized by
the museum. It followed Batavia 1629 in 2002 and Oentoeng: A
Historical Reconstruction last year. Visitors only had to pay the
museum fee of Rp 2,000 (21 U.S. cents) to witness all the acts.