Tamansari Water palace finds new role as batik center
Tamansari Water palace finds new role as batik center
By Gin Kurniawan
YOGYAKARTA (JP): A visit to Yogyakarta will no doubt bring about a recommendation to visit the Tamansari Water Palace, located close to the kraton royal residence.
The now dilapidated building was once the place where the royal family of the Mataram Kingdom escaped to relax. It was constructed in the 18th century during the reign of Sultan Hamengkubuwono I as part of the royal complex.
Tamansari must have looked extraordinary during its heyday. It had an underground excavation similar to a tunnel, with routes leading off in various directions. There was also an area called the segaran hosting an artificial lake. The royals would sail there and dock their boats at the Pogangan Manuk Beri.
There were also pools for courtiers and other residents of the kraton, divided according to social status.
Although Tamansari has not been well maintained, it continues to attract both local and foreign visitors who want to travel back in time.
The tourism office at the kraton records monthly totals of between 6,500 and 7,000 visitors to Tamansari, with an increase recorded at holidays.
The tourists also bring with them economic benefits for the people in the surrounding area, especially in the promotion of batik handicrafts which has been developed into a thriving industry.
More than half of the 450 families in the kampong not only make and sell batik, but also teach visitors the intricate process of producing the fabric. The association has grown so strong that others refer to the area as the batik kampong.
Making batik is the lifeblood of the area. The locals have also opened art galleries, each of which employs from two to five people. Their innovation has paid off in higher earnings for the residents from their neighbors in the area; in a month, artists claim they make about Rp 1 million each.
Mujido, 76, an elementary school drop-out, said he earns about Rp 1.5 million a month. "What's important is that you are industrious and have the skill to make batik," he said.
The people enjoy the additional advantage of living on land owned by the royal residence. They are only required to pay a nominal fee of around Rp 3,000 a year.
"We are lucky because we live in a strategic spot where we can run our business," Mujido acknowledged.
Much of the income of residents is derived from teaching foreign tourists. Each student is charged between Rp 7,500 and Rp 10,000 a day.
The tourists can also learn the art of batik in a course run by Hadjir Digdodarmojo, 66, a retired elementary school teacher. A sign reading "Intensive Batik Course" is posted in front of his house. The batik school is located a few steps from the entrance to the Tamansari Water Palace.
Hadjir said that he was inspired to open the batik course in 1970 when he met a couple of tourists from Thailand. They wanted to learn about the art but could not find a course.
At a cost of US$35, tourists can learn about the history of batik, the technique of applying wax to the fabric and other batik fundamentals. The fee covers materials for the three-day course.
"I give intensive lessons so that they will be able to make batik after the course is over," Hadjir said.
He added that he only provides the basics to the around 15 foreign tourists who take the course each month. "If they want to learn more, we can send them to other places."
Most of the foreigners are motivated by curiosity about making batik as their own countries do not have the courses. Others want to run a batik business or to become a batik artist, like Fritz Donart, a graphic artist from Austria who is a former Hadjir student.
Donart travels to Indonesia once every two years to find inspiration for batik motifs. He has exhibited the batik paintings he made during his stay in Jakarta and in Yogyakarta in 1994.
Hadjir said he had taught hundreds of tourists from Austria, America, Australia, France, Germany, Canada, Japan and Korea.
The business has improved Hadjir's life. He has renovated his house, which was formerly made of bamboo, and was able to send his four children to college. Three of them have graduated.
In 1983 he visited Melbourne upon the invitation of a former student, who wanted Hadjir to teach his parents.
"They were enthusiastic," he remembers.