SURUKARTA KRATON
Historic palace with museum displaying silver and bronze statues, weapons, Chinese porcelain, etc.
Before 1985, the palace (built in 1745) resembled a brothel, shamelessly displaying its wealth and bad taste. The building was only repaired when the situation became too critical. Meanwhile, the sultan led a debauched life in Jakarta. Until that terrible night in 1985, when a fire broke out in the august building. Firefighters arrived on the scene quickly, but were trapped in the palace's narrow entrance. They could have demolished it, but as the portal is a sacred symbol, it could not be touched: the fire ravaged a large part of the palace. Clearly, the sultan had been punished for his lack of respect for tradition. He received the message loud and clear, and returned sheepishly, vowing never to be heard from again. In a grand ceremony, the heads of a tiger, a buffalo, a fallow deer and a snake were buried. As for the Kraton's ashes, they were scattered in the Indian Ocean to obtain the forgiveness of the South Sea goddess, Nyai Loro Kidul, who once came to see her lover on these very premises, in the Panggung Songgo Buwono tower built in 1782. The repentant sultan had the palace rebuilt, but alas, most of it is now off-limits to the public. In the Sasono-Sewoko Museum, however, we can admire silver and bronze statues, numerous weapons, Chinese porcelain and attend dance classes on Sunday mornings. The collections could benefit from better maintenance.
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