Cultural Conservation Museum: Recreation And Education Travel Of The Surakarta Kasunanan Palace

Who knows the leading tourist attraction in the city of Solo? Precisely! Keraton Surakarta Hadiningrat or also known as Keraton Kasunanan is the official palace of Kasunanan Surakarta which is located in Surakarta City, Central Java. This palace was founded by Susuhunan Pakubuwana II in 1744 as a replacement for the Kartasura Palace or Keraton which was ravaged by the Chinatown commotion in 1743. This palace was a silent witness to the transfer of sovereignty of the Mataram Kingdom by Pakubuwono II in 1749. Apart from being the residence of the king and his wife and children, it is also known as Sentana and the courtiers, this palace is used as a museum to store historical objects belonging to the Surakarta Palace, including gifts or souvenirs from European kings placed around the Sasana Sewaka building.

Named as Cultural Sanctuary, the Asylum listed in the KBBI means a place to protect, while Culture is a custom and something about a habit that is difficult to change. The transition of the function of the administrative building of this palace is now commonly referred to as the Surakarta Kasunanan Palace Cultural Reserve Museum. The museum, which was inaugurated by President Soekarno in 1963, is not only used to store historical heirlooms, such as kris, golden chariots, and gamelan, as well as protection or areas whose cultural elements are still strong and must be cared for in order to maintain them properly.

A visit to the museum which is designed to provide knowledge to the public about the history and development of the Surakarta Kasunanan Palace, which has thirteen rooms in total, will quench our thirst for the hidden charm of Surakarta City's historical tourism. Because we can freely walk around the museum area and enter every room that displays different historical heirlooms that give the effect as if we are part of a real royal family. We can absorb the impression of being dissolved in the quiet and calm nuances of the palace through various collections of relics.

The first room is a display of photographs of the king who once ruled in the Surakarta area, and there is also a collection of relics of the fourth Pakubuwono chair and a carved cupboard that was once used by the royal family. Switch to the second room which stores collections such as Buddha statues and stone statues from ancient times. Moving on to the next room, the third room which holds a horse statue depicting a vehicle for the palace troops in the past, the horse statue is made of wood and is decorated with full clothes. Walk to the next room which is the fourth room which stores a collection of dioramas during the reign of King Pakubuwono IV after that to the fifth room where the room stores a collection of Javanese arts such as wayang kulit, gamelan or klenengan, and jaran kepang. The sixth room holds several collections of various kinds of masks.

The seventh room in this museum stores various ceremonial tools that are often used by the public and members of the palace, the eighth room contains several traditional means of transportation such as tandu, kremun, jolen and halang rintang which have their respective functions. Next is the ninth room, also called the steel train room, which stores a number of steel trains such as the Kyai Garuda's carriage, the Kyai Garuda son's carriage and the Kyai Morosebo's carriage.

With HTM IDR 15.000,00 open every day from 09.00 WIB to 15.00 WIB (except Friday), the Cultural Heritage Museum provides facilities such as a Tour Guide, a large parking area, toilets, bathrooms, prayer rooms, souvenir shops and traditional markets like Klewer for shopping.

Special edition during the COVID-19 pandemic, this museum has also complied with health protocols for tourism activities such as requiring to wear masks, providing a place for washing hands, social distancing recommendations, and checking body temperature for every visitor. Happy traveling in the city of Solo, healthy greetings always! (Wiwin/ Contributor)

--- Tranlsated by Laksita ---