Outside the palace with becak.
 
 

A Vist to the Kraton Yogyakarta
by Claire-Marie Hefner

     Yogyakarta is the site of the simple but elegant kraton or palace of Yogyakarta.  The palace is currently the home of the 10th sultan, Hamengku Buwana X, who lives there with his wife and five daughters.  His name, Hamengku Buwana, means “the nail or axis of the earth.”  His father, the 9th sultan, is probably the most famous of the Yogyanese sultans.  He had eight wives and something like 88 children.  Because the present sultan only has daughters, probably his brother or his brother’s oldest son will become the next sultan.  The ninth sultan is the most famous because he was active in the struggle for Indonesian independence around the time of World War II.  His son, the tenth sultan, is still respected by the people but holds little power.  He is really more of an icon than a political leader.  Still, when there were some recent political demonstrations in Indonesia and some cities had neighborhoods that were burned and stores that were looted, people believe nothing happened in Yogya because of the sultan’s leadership and magical power.
     The kraton is made up of a number of small, free-standing, buildings called pendopo.  Pendopo are open buildings with no walls, only a high roof and cool gray tile floors.  They are decorated with giant painted Chinese vases with palms and other plants growing in them, imported Italian crystal chandeliers, and porcelin plates from the Netherlands.  Most of these things were given to the different sultans by foreign heads of state.
 The different pendopo have different functions. One especially large one is used for parties and reception for diplomats and foreign visitors.  Hillary Clinton was even greeted there a few years ago.
     Another pendopo is used for holding royal dances.  The sultan had his own special dance group made up of young beautiful girls who were trained to perform a traditional  royal dance which was only done for him called the bedoyo dance.  This dance used to be secret and only the royal dancers could do it, but now that is not the case.  You can even watch the bedoyo dance performed at the palace nowadays on special evenings.
     There were other pendopo which have been turned into little museums.  There is one that has lots of palanquins, little houses with seats inside that lay on two long poles which men would carry on their shoulders.  There was one open one that the sultan would ride in to see the royal realm and for a little fresh air.  There was another one that the royal newlyweds would ride in through the streets after the marriage ceremony.  One really interesting thing you can see in the same museum is a large cage with no bottom which, when the baby sultan was about 6 months old, he would be placed under.  Attendants would put make-up and a mirror, a pencil and paper, and some money and jewelry in the cage with the baby.  Javanese believe if the baby shows interest in the make-up and mirror then he would grow up to be handsome; if he picks the pencil and paper, he will be smart, and if he picks the money and jewelry, he will grow up to be rich.  Our tour guide said that the 9th sultan had picked up everything!  So he grew up to be not only handsome, but also smart and rich.
     The recent sultan built a small museum specially for his father, Hamengku Buwono the 9th.  In it there are pictures of the 9th sultan as a boy scout, playing soccer (a very popular sport here), getting awards, and some other important events that he was involved in.  In the very center of the museum is a really large painting of Hamengku Buwono the 9th in his royal finery.  He has a special dagger which is supposed to have magical power (called a keris) tucked into the side of his waist sash and what’s really weird is that he has decorations on the top of his ears that look like pointed leaves.  The tour guide explained that these ear decorations symbolize wisdom.  They make him look like Dr. Spock of Star Trek!
     Another part of the palace is filled with large jugs that used to be used for storing wine for guests.  But the current sultan, who is a more serious Muslim, only drinks wine on special occasions and actually prefers Coca-Cola.  There are also presents on display, mostly tea sets, from famous leaders of the past.  There is even a set from Napoleon himself!  There were many others from Holland, France, and China, some with photos of members of the royal family on them.
     Everything on the palace grounds is symbolic, even the trees and flowers.  My favorites are these special royal symbols in code called condrosengkolo.  In a condrosengkolo each symbol is given a number and the numbers are read backwards to find an important date.  There is a condrosengkolo carved on a gate in front of one of the pendopo which tells when the building was rebuilt.  On the top of the gatre is a carving of two serpents with crowns on their heads. In the center of the two serpents there is a giant’s head.  The head has a leech in it’s hair.  The leech=3, the giant=5, the serpent=8, and the crown on the serpent’s head= 1.  When you read it backwards, you get 1853, the date when the building was renovated.
     I really enjoyed visiting the palace and hope to go back again.  It would take many visits to discover all the different symbols and understand their meanings.  When I was there I kept thinking about some European palaces like Versailles in France.  I love Versailles because it is so dazzling, with high ceilings and gold and jewels and mirrors and polished marble.  Versailles is really awesome, but it lacks the simple, calm, elegance of the kraton. They are really two very different ways to be royal.