Kingdom Of East Java

Panataran Temple was a Hindi temple which was built in times of kadiri Kingdom,

and was used up to the sovereign of Majapahit Kingdom.



Crisp air and cool breeze definitely telt invigorating as we enter the temple, which was surrounded by houses

and small food stall owned by local people. At which time our watches showed the number 14.10 and the sky was definitely cloudy.



Childhood memory took me back on the 1980s when i went camping near Panataran Temple area.

the atmosphere was different back then. Decades ago, there were only trees surround the temple,

the mystical atmosphere and aura of old buildings were very thick. Now, the area is crowded with local's residence.



If we trace back on its history, this temple complex symbolize the governance of ancient kingdoms

and the biggest temple complex in East Java. for that reason, to increase tourism industry,

local government made Panataran Temple as cultural centre in Blitar.

This temple is located in the southwest of Kelud Mountain at the elevation of 450m above see level,

in a village called Panataran, Ngelok area, Blitar region.

to get there, you can go from downtown Blitar, to the north, to the direction of Soekarno

Cemetary all the way to Nglegok.



The road from the city to the temple was estimated to take 25minutes. took distance of 12km through freeway of ashpalt road,

it was a journey we enjoyed very much. all throughout the road, fields of rice paddy and the sturdy Kelud Mountain

was visible all the way.


Pnataran Temple is stuated in an area of 12.946 m2, with the temple buildings being side by side from northwest all the way to the

southeast. the division of the gardens into three are rooted in old belief of our ancestors.


The order of the Panataran Temple area is truly interesting because the temples are facing each other where in a glance it looks out

of order. the order of the buildings are similar to the ones in Bali,where the temple i the far back is the most holy as this

is the centre temple, where the Gods lie, closest to the mountains.


Before entering temple complex, there were two pieces of statues which guarded the door, Dwaraphala, which among Blitar people also known as

"Mbah Bodo". what interesting about these two statues was not their massive size or their scary face, but the carving of the year written in Ancient Javanese: Year of 1242 Saka of 1320 AD.


According to the carved year, Archeologist belive that the sacred building of Panataran Temple was made official being nation's temple on the regime of Jayanegara King from Majapahit

who ruled on 1309-1328 AD.

fond memories of adolescence

GEBANG PALACE OF BETTER KNOWN AS NDALEM GEBANG, WAS A RESIDANCE OF SOEKARNO'S PARENTS.

THIS IS THE HOUSE WHERE SOEKARNO SPENT THEIR TEENAGE YEARS.


The location of this house is not too far away from Soekarno's cemetary, about 2km to the south, in Jlan Sultan Agung No. 69, City of Bolitar, to be exact.

Actually, this house is owned by Mr. Poegoeh Wardoyo, the husband of Soekarno's sister, Sukarmini. Even though both parents stayed over in there as well.

one can say that house has many memories about Soekarno.


While living in Gebang Place, Soekarno has a habit, in the late afternoon, to tke a walk in Bon Rojo. Soekarno levod going in out of villages in Bendogerit. while walking,

he was always follewed by children and teenagers, while singing and joking around. As time goes by, Soekarno made more and more friends.

they usually got together in Ndalem Gebang until just before sunset.

Nowdays, Gebang palace became a museum to reminisce about about Soekarno's. that is why, this palace became a storage place of Soekarno's belongings which are display for tourists.

In this house, every june there are a lot of tourist visiting , both for Soekarno's day remembrance and yearly Pancasila Day event by the local government of Blitar.

PLANS TO SELL


You prabably heard f or read news about Gebang Place being on sale. it was heard that this plan to sell the place was because limitation in funding for house maintenance.

to raise such fund, the building manager, in this case the family living in Blitar, with heavy heart ask for charity money from the visitors. even so,

it was not enough to cover maintenance cost.


It would be really ashamed that a house where Soekarno once reside in childhood would be manged by a private party/ it is possible that the palace be turned into hotel, supermarket, or even a shopping mall.

of course a history chain will be broken with the selling of this historic place. the palace will just be another story in hostory books. it is for that reason that the government's help is needed to protect and preserve the country's history asset.

it will all in a cause to respect the triumph of this country's hero.

piece of love for the people...Bung Karno

IN SOEKARNO CEMETARY, VISITORS CAN ENJOY SOEKARNO INFORMATION CENTRE OR BETTER KNOWN AS LIBRARY AND MUSEUM OF SOEKARNO. A DIVERSE RANGE OF BOOKS COLLECTION AND OTHER BELONGINGS ARE

BEING DISPLAYED IN THIS PLACE.




The existance of Soekarno Information Centre added an to the richness of experience of the cemetary. the Information Centre was built by Dr.Ir. Baskoro Tejo from Bandung Institute of


Technology, in the era when Megawati became President of Republic of Indonesia. Soekarno Information Centre was officially opend\ed on July 3,2004. This building of library and museum instantly

became the new tourism icon in the city of Blitar.

The Soekarno Information Centre building looked very extravagant and artistic with its European influence. when entering the cemetary area,

visitors can see a very long wall on the left hand side filled with wood carving of Soekarno's past triumph.

what really interesting in this Information Centre was a replica of Soekarno sitting down holding a book. his eyes were looking at the entrance of the library and the museum. to look at this statue

made our hearts trembled full of pride imagining what he looked like. the image of a leader so rare in our times. it truly was fantastic.



The existance of a library in this place as a way of preserving the presence and the way of thinking of the proclamator, especially for the younger generation. Visitors can read many book cellections as well as Soekarno's

autobiography. additionally, there are many rare books on display in this library.



To give a picture of the life and triumph of Soekarno, visitors can visit the museum. Many paintings on Soekarno and also owned by the man himself are also available to be viewed here.

On top of that, there were clothes, briefcase, and Soekarno's face printed on a note money from 1964 being displayed.


It is true, the charisma of the proclamator of this country was massive. this can be felt through his picture as a youth, up to when he became a president that were displayed.

just from looking at those pictures, the visitors would be able to understand the life of Soekarno up to his death, as part of the history of this country.


cari foto paytung soekarno and perpus nya

BLITAR

"HERE LIES BUNG KARNO TE PROCLAMATOR OF INDEPENDENCE AND FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC INDONESIA.

THE CONNECTOR OF PEOPLE'S VOICE." THAT WAS THE WRITINGS ON THE TOMBS IN SOEKARNO'S GRAVEYARD.



Hearing the word Blitar, you would immidiately associate it with the name Soekarno. And it would not be right for us to go

there without visiting sthe cemetary of our proclamator. It is locted in Bendogerit, Sananwetan sub-district,

This graveyar never quiet of pilgrims, especially on the holiday. Covers an area 1,8 hectars, one can said that the last resting

place of Soekarno is one the icon of the City of Blitar.



The entrace to the cemetary starts from the road which connects library on the south side of the cemetary all the way to Agung gate

which faced the south. Before arriving to the grave, pilgrims will pass by a library building apposite to museum.

In these buildings, we can see many pictures and paintings of Soekarno as well as his book collections.



In here we had to queueto be able to take pictures of the statue of Soekarno which situated in the middle room,

entrance of library and museum, which as a popular place for tourists to take photo of. after taking pictures, we continued our report

to the grave.

This grave had a main building in a form of cupola which was named Astono Mulyo, mixed with

a gate shaped as temple gate Bentar. There were also other buildings which are Gapura Agung,

mosque, and a Bangsal. There also the last resting place of Bung Karno marked by a piece

of black marble written "here lies Bung Karno Independence Proclamator and the first President of Republic of Indonesia. The connector of people's

Voice".


According to one of the security guard of the cemetary. in Bung Karno's day of remembrace,

the number of pilgrims boomed, they not only came from east java, but also from every part of the country,

together just to pray in this cemetary. some of them, even, stayed over in the cemetary.


at the beginning, the grave of Indonesia's first President was surrounded by thick glass wall, so the visitors cannot be too close.

However, on the era of President Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati Sukarno Putri as vice president, the glass wall was torn down entirely.


Now, the last resting place Bung Karno, which rested together with both of his parents on each side, R Sukemi Sasrodihardjo and

Ida Ayu Nyoman Rai, have become open for public. pilgrims can come and pray even touch the grave of the beloved proclamator. Bung Karno was, indeed,

phenomenal in his lifetime all throughout his death. however, whoever he was, his body already part of this country's history.

Not only during his lifetime did Bung Karno performed great service, but up until today, the exestance of his graveyard had given

blessing to the local people, especially Blitar people who were trading nearby, from food, flower, souvenir, and using their houses as parking lot.

East Java

WE PURPOSELY SPENT TWELVE DAYS CIRCLING AROUND EAST JAVA, STOPPED BY MANY SUB-DISTRICTS TO FIND

INTERESTING PLACES TO VISIT AS PART OF UOR DOMESTIC TRAVEL WHICH YOU, OUR LOYAL READERS, DESERVE

TO BE INFORMED OF.

we hope that jember and blitar worthy of becoming your travel destination, at the least,

we hope that you develop more love and interest in visiting our own backyard before going

abroad. it is useless to be proud of your tour around the world, when you don't know anything, and cannot,

about travel destination in your own country.


jember, for example, the nature beauty was incredible, such as watu ulo beach, papuma beach,

and so on. also, do not forget many kinds of souvenir from jember to be broughthome,

such as suwar-suwir or dodol made from fermented food. madumongso, fermented casava, fermented sticky rice,

and many more, that you can bring home from jember.


from jember, we take you to look at the beautyof the cityof blitar, that can be said as one of the culture preservation

centre since they are rich of history and pre-historic heritage, such as temples and monuments.

there are many temples built in blitar, but the most famous one is PANATARAN temple. other than that,

in blitar, you can also visit bung karno cemetary, the first President of INDONESIA. the existance of the proclamator's

cemetary had become an icon in blitar. like a magnet, the name Bung KARNO become an attraction to domestic

and international tourists to blitar. Enjoy....