Exploring the Hyde Park of Batavia

By Ida Indawati Khouw

It's the Jakarta landmark that everybody knows and looks up to. The National Monument (Monas), located in the heart of the capital, was once a favorite spot for residents to enjoy a breath of fresh air and a stroll. This is the 70th article in our series on historical sites of Batavia.

JAKARTA (JP): Monas is today part of the urban sprawl that is Jakarta, though cows and buffaloes grazed in the area during the time of the VOC, the Dutch trading company which ruled the country in the 17th century and through much of the 18th century.

It was even given the pastoral nickname of "Buffalo Field"..

The 800,000 square-meter grass area was an ideal place for the animals, but in 1809 Governor General Herman Willem Daendels changed the function of the site for military exercises and with it a name change to Champ de Mars.

There is little information on the condition of the site at that time, although it is clear that the strident governor general built up the area as part of his grand designs to relocate the city center from the old town (the present downtown Kota area) to Weltevreden (area of Central Jakarta) due to the deteriorating condition of the old city.

The square's beautification project occurred during the time of the Dutch colonial rule, which changed the name to Koningsplein (King's Square) in 1818, followed by the construction of surrounding mansions.

"It was not until after the middle of the 19th century that grand houses on spacious grounds began to dominate the four sides of the Koningsplein and it became the most fashionable address in Batavia," said writer Scott Merrillees.

In his book Batavia in Nineteenth Century Photographs, Merrillees describes the beauty of the area which was captured by photographer Walter Woodbury. He revealed his admiration in a letter to his mother in May 26, 1857, only eight days after arriving in Batavia.

"Koningsplein, as it is called, is the Hyde Park of Batavia and the residence of all the fashionable, amongst them myself. This part of the town is a perfect paradise with banyan and coconut trees and other beautiful trees (planted some 40 years ago)."

It became the place for Batavians to seek some cool comfort, especially in the afternoon.

D. van der Zee wrote in his book Batavia the Queen of the East ".... The place remains beautiful and especially in the cool of the evening, when the gentle wind blows over it, and in the distance the outlines of the blue mountains are shapely marked against the sky.

"A path, heavily shaded by trees, winds around the fields, inviting one to enjoy a walk,"

A certain Weitzel wrote in 1858: "... Koningsplein forms an irregular square and to walk around it, one must, when does not want to tire oneself, take almost one hour. It is bordered by broad well-kept roads planted with tamarind trees....

"On each beautiful afternoon, between half past five and half past six, here one meets many carriages, pedestrians and horse riders."

Van der Zee elaborated that many great structures beautified the square, such as the museum, the Theosophist Club, the Armenian Church, the public reading room, the town clerk's office, the Willemskerk (Immanuel Church), the gorgeous office of the Royal Steam Packet company and the palace of the governor general (now the presidential palace).

There were also several schools and a number of commercial houses.

Indigenous people at that time preferred to call it Lapangan Gambir (Gambir Square); it became the legal name during the Japanese occupation from 1942 to 1945, and also was acknowledged as Lapangan Ikada (Ikatan Atletik Jakarta, the Association of the Jakarta Athletics).

Important events tied to the struggle for independence occurred here in Sept. 19, 1945, in what was popularly called Rapat Ikada (the Ikada Meeting), a huge gathering to support the proclamation of independence.

The present name of Lapangan Monas (Monas Square) was only used when construction of the National Monument began in 1961. It is a monument to commemorate the struggle for independence.

Lapangan Gambir was chosen as the site for various reasons, including that it was a huge area located in the heart of the city and surrounded by government offices. The planning itself was started in 1954 through the establishment of the Tugu National Committee.

However, the monument's establishment was repeatedly delayed due to technical reasons and committee members were also constantly changed.

Delays

The committee then held open contests for the monument design in 1955 and 1960, but the results were judged as lacking in showing the glorious struggle.

"Then president Sukarno designated noted architects Soedarsono and F. Silaban that each of them should sketch the planned monument .... Finally, (Sukarno) chose that of Soedarsono," according to Tugu Nasional, Laporan Pembangunan (Tugu Nasional, the Construction Report).

What he created was the 128.7-meter-high monument (measured from the ground level), a manifestation of the philosophy of lingga and yoni (lingga is the Sanskrit word for phallus, and yoni for the womb) in the form of a high rise monument resembling alu the rice pestle and lumpang, the rice jar, which are important daily instruments to many Indonesians, especially those in the villages.

"Lingga and yoni are the symbols of eternal life, the positive and negative elements, day and night, male and female, good characteristics and bad characteristics, constituting the eternity of the world," the book said.

The 17-meter-high statue of a flame on its top represents the eternal flame of the Indonesian people. It was made from 14.5 tons of bronze plated with 35 kilograms of pure gold.