Sriwedari Park's glory days now just a distant memory

Sriwedari Park's glory days now just a distant memory

Kartika Bagus C., The Jakarta Post, Surakarta

For Surakartans, Sriwedari Park is not only a city park. Its
function went beyond that until it changed with the times.

When celebrating its centenary on Jan. 1, people realized just
how much the park had changed from its original concept when it
was built by the King of Surakarta Hadiningrat Pakoe Boewono X,
in 1902. The king established the park to provide a public space
for Surakartans and the surrounding countryside in the province
now known as Central Java.

Sudharmono, a 51-year-old historian of the Surakarta-based
State University of Sebelas Maret (UNS), said the reason for
building the park was to enable Pakoe Boewono X to gain support
from his citizens. At that time, the King's power only covered
Surakarta city as it is today. Other parts of the former
Surakarta kingdom, including Boyolali, Sragen, Klaten, Kartosuro,
Sukoharjo and Wonogiri, were taken over by the Dutch colonial
administration.

"Sriwedari functioned as a public recreation center and a
Javanese cultural development center, besides remedying people's
disappointment over the fading away of the Surakarta King's
authority," he said.

"The presence of local people in the Surakarta royal palace to
show great respect for the King symbolized his remaining
authority and became a cultural means of overcoming the Dutch
regulation that banned people from gathering in the palace."

Located in the heart of Surakarta, or some 10 kilometers west
of the Kraton (palace) Surakarta Hadiningrat, the 61,739 square
meter Sriwedari park used to serve as a zoological conservation
center, a zoo, an art and cultural center and a handicraft center
for Surakarta, when the city had a population of only 110,000.
The park also offered a transit venue for train passengers
traveling between Purwosari and Kota railway station.

The palace's observer of culture, Kalinggo Honggopuro, said
Sriwedari was larger and better designed, with curving roads and
encircled by casuarina trees interspersed with mango and canary
trees.

There was a shelter, known as a wimbayasa, located in the
middle of the park, near a cluster of sekar tanjung trees, on
which various types of bird like white egret, wild and other
ducks were perched. Pens for keeping animals like deer and mouse
deer were found in the southern part of the park.

An enclosure for elephants belonging to the palace was
situated south of a recreation pond in the eastern part of the
park. Cages for panthers and tigers were found to the north of
the pond, as were those for monkeys and orangutans to the west.

After wayang orang (a traditional play) filled the regular
entertainment schedule in the park from 1907 (1836 in the
Javanese calendar), Sriwedari park management provided a special
stage for the play every Saturday evening. It was followed by the
establishment of an open-air movie theater and a building for a
ketoprak show (a Javanese drama depicting historical or pseudo-
historical events) in the compound, which took place every
evening.

Other performances only took place in accordance with the
palace agenda, including Sedekah Rebutan (people grab the
offerings for the King), firecracker festivities, ludruk (East
Java folk theater) and dhoger (Central Java folk dance
performance). All attractions were staged to entertain the people
at that time.

However, 100 years after its establishment, Sriwedari has not
left a trace of its former status as a venue to which Surakartans
flocked to enjoy entertainment and learn about the environment.
Several buildings inside the park have been damaged due to poor
maintenance, not to mention the parceling off of land in the
compound for business purposes by private companies.

Chief of the palace officers Dipokusuma said the Surakarta
administration had to decide what to do with Sriwedari, although
the palace would prefer to return it to its function as a public
park.

"If Sriwedari is returned to its former function, then it must
be accessible to the public. To fulfill its role as a public
place, then it must be free of charge too."

The solution is to turn three main elements -- Graha Wisata
(multifunction hall), the recreational park and restaurant Boga
-- into the main sources of financial support.

"Therefore, we need to forge good cooperation with the local
administration, the palace and other parties to meet this
objective," Dipokusuma said.

Nowadays the Sriwedari compound is home to, among others, the
Surakarta Tourism Board office, Solo movie theater, a performing
arts center, a food court, a stadium (the venue for the first
National Games in September 1948) and the Radya Pustaka museum
(the oldest in Indonesia).