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.