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.