Mangkunegaran Revitalisation Funds to be Disbursed in April

TEMPO Interactive, Surakarta – The Surakarta Spatial Planning Office will revitalize the Mangkunegaran cultural heritage area in the near future.

Funds of Rp 20 billion will be disbursed in April 2010.

“The funds come from the central government,” said the Head of the Surakarta Spatial Planning Office Yob Nugroho yesterday.

Besides the Mangkunegaran revitalization funds of Rp 20 billion, the office will also receive Rp 2.5 billion to help revitalize the Radya Pustaka Museum.

Solo Launch Kirab Boyong Kedaton

Solo -  The "Kirab Boyong Kedaton" (Boyong Kedaton Carnival) to commemorate the 265th birthday of SOlo City, Wednesday, was lavishly received by Solo local community. The crowd gathered along the Slamet Riyadi Street to watch the procession.

The major of Surakarta, Joko Widodo, and the vice major of Surakarta, FX Hadi Ruyatmo, wore Javanese traditional cloth, participated in the procession on horse back. The other participants were dancing along the street. The procession reflected the move of Keraton SUrakarta to the Sala/Solo village and the supreme values of the nation. The procession was started not from Kartasura but from the west bank of the city and ended in the Surakarta City Hall.

A couple of art works was performed at the procession by the students of various schools in Solo, as well as students and lecturers at Institut Seni Indonesia Surakarta and some artists from several art workshops in Solo.

Ternate Palace

Ternate Palace has become a museum since the Dutch East Indies colonial government (1916). However, Ternate Palace still function as a palace for the Sultanate of Ternate and Ternate residents even if only symbolically. Traditional ceremonies are often held in this court until now. Ternate residents also still honor the descendants of the Sultan of Ternate, which is considered sacred or having an efficacy that protects people from Gamalama eruption.

In 1976, after extensive renovations with funding from the Department for Education and Culture and the province of Maluku, Sultan Ternate Palace Museum is integrated with the Directorate of Museums. Soon after that, relatives of Ternate Palace occupies the building back. This had been complained of by the Director General of Culture at that time, Dr. Haryati Soebadio, because officially the Sultanate of Ternate no longer exist.