Palembang: Old town with sustainable development

Palembang: Old town with sustainable development

By Bambang Budi Utomo

Yesterday President Soeharto inaugurated the Ancient Park of the
Kingdom of Sriwijaya in Palembang. The event confirmed theories that
Palembang was once the capital of Sriwijaya, one of the most powerful
kingdoms in the Indonesian archipelago. The following article to
explain how the city developed into a trade and religious center.

PALEMBANG, South Sumatra (JP): "Prosperity. Good fortune. The Saka year
of 686, the second day of crescent moon,Caitra (March 23 of 684); it is the
date when the construction of this garden, named Srisektra, is started
under direct supervision by King Jayanasa. This is the wish of the King:
May all the trees to be planted in this park -- coconuts, areca nuts, sugar
palm, sago palm -- their fruits can be had by the people. So will the
bamboo . . . ".

These are the first sentences in the foreword of the Talang Tuo epigraph.
It was uncovered in Talang Tuo village, about ten kilometers northwest of
Palembang. The epigraph marked the inauguration and opening of a park that
was built 1310 years ago by Dapunta Hiyang Sri Jayanasa, founder and leader
of the Kadatuan of Sriwijaya.

Yesterday, to coincide with the commemoration of the Indonesian Women's
Day, President Soeharto inaugurated the Ancient Park of the Kingdom of
Sriwijaya. The city of Palembang now has two parks inaugurated by two
leaders, namely the king of the Kadatuan of Sriwijaya and the president of
the Republic of Indonesia.

The Ancient Park of the Kingdom of Sriwijaya was built in a village
called Karanganyar, about five kilometers west of Palembang's city center,
on a hilly piece of land.

Archeological research conducted at this location, which included
analyses of plant powder found in the soil, managed to identify the genres
of plants in the epigraph.

The park must have provided solace to the entire city, particularly
because the plants there bore ample fruit. The construction of this park
completed the construction of the city.

The growth of Palembang as the center of the government of Sriwijaya is
not surprising if you take into account that communications and trade had
been intense for some time. This enabled the citizens to progress. Later,
when trade with China, India and Arabia was growing tremendously, the
people of Sriwijaya were ready to grab the opportunities. They already had
the administrative and service skills and the capability to find resources
from outside.

Although Palembang was once the capital of Kadatuan Sriwijaya, the
remains of buildings found don't reflect its function. Why?

Natural conditions specific to this area may be the answer. The
settlement system in Sriwijaya remained rural in character, as nature
provided the people with ample construction materials suitable for rural
settlement. The land was swampy and was surrounded by tropical forests that
provided a lot of wood and bamboo. It was these natural resources that
influenced the people to maintain their village-based settlement. They
built stilted and raft houses on the rivers.

This is different from thee Malay mainland where cities were more
developed. Sand and gravel were more readily available so buildings were
constructed using these materials. Palembang was different from the cities
on the Malay peninsula. The capital must have been comprised of wood or
bamboo houses. Only a small number of sacred buildings were constructed
from red bricks.

That was Palembang between the 7th and the 13th Centuries, when a
government in the form of Kadatuan ruled the area. The government was first
headed by someone with the honorable title of Dapunta -- Dapunta Hiyang Sri
Jayanasa. This ruler discovered and built the city of Palembang. Today
Palembang has developed from a village-based settlement (wanua) into the
second largest city in Sumatra after Medan. Its population has grown from
20,000 to more than 1 million.

Ecosystem

"I wish you security and prosperity. In the Saka year 604, on the
eleventh day of the crescent moon of Waisakha (April 23, 682), Dapunta
Hiyang rides a canoe to pick sidharyatra. On the seventh day of the
crescent moon of Jyestah (May 19, 682), Dapunta Hiyang departs from
Minanga, taking with him a crowd of 20,000 soldiers, as well as two hundred
crates of supplies transported on canoes as well as by 2,312 people who
walk on foot. Then they reach mukha--p- in high spirit. On the fifth day of
the crescent moon of Asadha (June 16, 682), with ease and exultation (he)
arrives and builds (in this location) a settlement. (Thus) Sriwijaya wins,
the journey is fruitful and (people) become prosperous ever after."

This is the most complete historical record of the history of Palembang
and includes the dates when Dapunta Hiyang reached the right location on
which he was to build a settlement. The record, written in Pallawa script
in the old Malay language, was chiseled on a big rock. The rock was
discovered in Kedukan Bukit, west of Palembang, on Nov. 19, 1920 by
Batenburg. He found it in a house belonging to a Malay family.

Palembang developed into a prosperous port city. This is a little
surprising because the south of Sumatra did not have many resources that
were in demand internationally. The resin, camphor and other resource
centers were located in North Sumatra. It is rather strange that the
exporting port was located so far away from the production centers.

The answer lies in the fact that Palembang is located on the intersection
of transportation lines. It is beside the Musi river and at the mouth of
the Ogan and Kramasan rivers. It also lies between Java and mainland Asia.
Commodities were transported from the interior to Palembang to be marketed.
These goods were then shipped to other areas. The increase in trade made
the wanua built by Dapunta Hiyang in the year 682 up to the period of
Sultan of Palembang Darussalam grow into what it is today.

A town must have various public buildings. Places for worship, irrigation
and flood control mechanism are some examples. Several sites indicate the
existence of religious activities in the past. You can still find remains
of public buildings at Bukit Siguntang, Pagaralam, Candi Angsoka (the
Temple of Angsoka), Lemahabang and Gedingsuro.

These buildings were constructed on hills, rather far from settlements.
According to the zoning principle in the teachings of Buddha, settlements
should be built to the south of Mount Meru. Therefore, sacred buildings in
Palembang are located to the north of the settlement sites.

People believe that the most sacred place in the capital was Bukit
Siguntang at the Tanjung Rawa site. Situated on top of a 26 meter high
hill, there was to a four meter statue of Buddha. Around this statue,
several stupas made of red bricks were found. Houses for the caretakers may
have been located at the foot of the hill. This conclusion is based on
surveys conducted by L. C. Westenenk (a regent of Palembang in 1920s) and
Schnitger (a controller in Palembang), as well as research conducted by the
National Center for Archeological Studies. At the time Westenenk and
Schnitger conducted their research in 1930s, they uncovered remains of
stupas on the top of Bukit Siguntang. The excavation carried out by the
Center in 1989 and 1990 resulted in the discovery of foundations on the
west side of Bukit Siguntang.

Monk dormitories

A written record attesting to the existence of public buildings in the
center of the city is found in the diary of I-tsing in the 680s. In his
diary, I-tsing writes that in the fortified capital there were more than
1,000 Buddhist monks, all of whom devoted themselves to knowledge and
practice of the teachings of Buddha. They were much like the Madhya-desa in
India in their rules and religious rituals.

He therefore suggested that all Chinese monks going to India to learn and
read original texts stay in Sriwijaya for two or three years to prepare
themselves.

Based on I-tsing's accounts, we can conclude that there were sacred
buildings, dormitories for the monks and students and libraries holding
texts on Buddha in the capital.

The existence of monasteries in the city is also indicated by remains
discovered at archeological sites east of Palembang. In both Lemahabang and
Gedingsuro many small (8-10 cm) Buddha and Bodhisattwa statues were found.
Bronze statues, some of which were gold-plated, were usually found in
monasteries. Clay stupas were also found.

Inside these stupas were clay tablets, on which Buddha's mantra were
written. An earlier excavation conducted at Lamahabang in 1973 uncovered
more than 400 clay stupas and a statue of Bodhisatta Awalokiteswara. These
stupas resemble the ones found in Borobudur, Banyuwangi and Bali. Some of
the clay tablets feature pre-Nagari scriptures, the majority of which tell
about the teachings of Buddha (Dharma text). Based on the shape of the
script, we know that they were made between the 7th and 10th centuries. The
writings were usually used in the monasteries. The exact material used to
build the monasteries has not been discovered.

There was no red brick found at Lamahabang. This leads us to conclude
that the complex was constructed with materials that have decayed, like
wood and bamboo. Buildings at Gedingsuro, however, were made from red
brick. Ruins, coinciding with the Kingdom of Sriwijaya, were uncovered
about 200 meters to the north of the Percandian Gedingsuro site. The site
itself is not considered to be as old as the kingdom. The building complex
was apparently built between the 14th and the 15th centuries.

To the north of the Percandian Gedingsuro site, on a piece of land about
five meters higher than the rest of the site itself, more than 40 bronze
and metal statues were uncovered in 1988. In addition, a fairly large
number of red bricks were unearthed. These bricks were larger in size than
those found at the Percandian Gedingsuro site. The bricks must have been
used for the foundations or flooring of the wooden buildings. The building
complex might have been dormitories for the monks, with smaller sacred
buildings (similar to chapels) in which they conducted their daily rituals.

Bambang Budi Utomo is a graduate of the department of archeology,
University of Indonesia, and a researcher with the National Center for
Archeological Researches.