New map helps to promote cultural heritage

Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Touring inside Yogyakarta Palace's fortress or Jeron Beteng as it is popularly called, is now more enriching and easier than ever, thanks to the recently launched Jogja Jeron Beteng Heritage Trail.

The 20-page folding pocket-sized map displays four different maps of the Jeron Beteng area and is rich with information about local heritage sites, ruins and buildings.

The map, for example, explains how the Yogyakarta Palace had developed housing complexes in Jeron Beteng area and then named each of them either after a particular prince who had once lived at the complex, or the expertise of the palace's abdi dalem (servants) or the palace landmarks.

Suryaputran, for example, was named because it was where Prince Suryaputra once lived. Musikanan, likewise, used to be the housing complex for the palace musicians. While Nagan was a place in the palace's Tamansari Water Castle where a naga (or dragon) statue was built.

The map reveals there are some 40 heritage places worth visiting in Jeron Beteng. This information might come as surprise to many, especially because most people only know of Yogyakarta Palace and Tamansari Water Catsle.

A 150-year-old traditional house on Siliran, Dalem Mangkubumen which is now being used as the campus of Widya Mataram University; Dalem Joyokusuman where tourists can enjoy a royal gala dinner; old mosques; Ngasem traditional market; and museums are among the recommended places to visit.

Laretna T. Adishakti, chairman of the Jogja Heritage Society (JHS), which co-launched the map, said the map's launching was aimed at promoting Jeron Beteng area's rich history, displayed in its traditional buildings, historical sites, natural and artificial environments along with its cultural performances and arts.

The map itself, she said, was the result of two years of research conducted by JHS activists. The activists conducted at least nine tryouts of Jeron Beteng's heritage trails involving various groups, including school and university students as well as foreign tourists.

So it comes as no surprise that the map also provides five alternative routes for the Jeron Beteng heritage trail. The recommended routes, between three and eight hours by traditional horse-ridden carriage andong or on foot, are equipped with information about which sites can be visited and which ones are only passed by. Two of the suggested routes, which require only a three-hour-trip, are recommended for children.

"The map is basically made to guide anyone wanting to track down the cultural heritage of Jeron Beteng on their own, without needing the help of a tour guide," said Sita, as Laretna is better known, at the sidelines of the map's launch at Dalem Kaneman -- one of the few remaining old buildings in Jeron Beteng, on Jl. Kadipaten.

It was also for the same reason that a number of standing placards, information boards and sign boards -- written in Indonesian and English, in Latin and in braille -- were placed at a number of sites in Jeron Beteng. Video compact discs and the website, jogjapusaka.or.id, are also available for anyone wanting to learn more about Jeron Beteng's cultural heritage.

According to Sita, one of the other reasons for publishing the map was to provide the community a media to help them improve their appreciation of cultural heritage, thus helping to preserve the city's cultural heritage.

The works were jointly produced by JHS with the support of other similar non-governmental organizations including the Center for Heritage Conservation of Gadjah Mada University's School of Architecture, Senthir and AusHeritage (Australia), and financial aid from the American Express Foundation.

The map is scheduled to be officially launched on Sept. 1, 2002. The soft launching, according to Sita, was mainly aimed at looking for more feedback from the community in an effort to improve the map.

Other interesting information in the map includes explanation of the palace's fortress, known as Beteng Baluwrti, that previously surrounded the entire palace complex. Unfortunately, the three-meter thick fortress, which was originally five kilometers long now only measures 600 meters. The rest has been mostly turned into housing.

Tourists can reach what remains of the fortress and walk on it to get different views by climbing up the stairs on either side of Plengkung Gadhing gate, just a few meters south of the palace's southern square, Alun-alun Selatan. They can also climb up similar stairs built on the inside part of the southeast bastion, or Pojok Beteng Wetan-Kidul as it was popularly known.

Beteng Baluwarti, built in the 1780s, originally had five plengkung (gates) that connected the palace with the outside world. Each of the gates had its separate name and function. However, only four of them remain.

"I'm a native of Yogyakartan, but to be frank this is the first time I have climbed onto the fortress," said a participant of Jogja Jeron Beteng Heritage Trail, which JHS organized ahead of the map's launching.