Kutai Palace set for comeback

Kutai Palace set for comeback

SAMARINDA, East Kalimantan: The Kutai district administration
has announced plans to revive the cultural life of the Kutai
Kertanegara Palace in an effort to attract foreign tourists.

Kutai district chief Sayukani HR said on Saturday in
Tenggarong that alterations which turned the Kutai Palace into
the Mulawarman Museum, which houses collections of historical
legacies from the Kutai Kingdom, had failed to attract foreign
visitors.

He said such sites were becoming increasingly unattractive
because tourists were generally not interested in inanimate
objects.

Sayukani said that in order to reverse this trend it was
necessary to revive cultural activities at the Kutai Kertanagera
Palace so that visitors would have first-hand experience of
traditional palace life.

He said if the cultural rejuvenation program proceeded
according to plan, a king would be selected and served by royal
"maids".

Sayukani said that according to the royal lineage of the Kutai
Kingdom, the king would bear the title of Aji Pangeran Prabu, or
Aji Sultan.

"For this purpose, I will visit Surakarta and Yogyakarta to
see how the palace tradition and rites are conserved and
practiced there," he told Antara.