Gasing or top spinning is a traditional toy made of wood and the like, played by spinning it with a string. In East Kalimantan the game is called begasing. Begasing contains many life lessons. Begasing is played only by men, either children, teenager or adult.
According to Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia by Balai Pustaka 2005 on page 339, “gasing” means a toy made of wood and the like, which comes with a (nail or wooden) bolt and is spinned with a string. In Bahasa Indonesia, gasing generally means “spinning very fast”. It can be seen from such common expression as “The football player spins like a gasing after striking his opponent.”
Gasing game is popular almost in all provinces in Indonesia and they have the same term: gasing. In East Kalimantan, the game is called begasing (Karim et al., 1993). The origin of begasing in East Kalimantan is unknown, yet, according to the stories by the local people, the game is considered to be derived from Sumatra and Java. This is due to the fact that a certain culture is strongly attached to its supporters, and is always carried along when they move to a new area. That culture is then socialized and develop in accordance with the new setting. From here then emerged several versions of that culture, gasing is an example. More ... >>
Tourists who visit Yogyakarta have been more familiar with Prambanan Temple as the worth visiting destination. Whereas, at three kilometers south of Prambanan Temple there is another remnant of the ancient Mataram Kingdom called Ratu Boko Temple complex. The temple was built in the time of Rakai Panangkaran, a descendant of Syailendra Dynasty.
Ratu boko complex was first found in 1790 by van Boeckhlotz. Yet, a more in depth research was conducted a hundred years afterwards and the result was published in a book entitled Keraton van Ratoe Boko. According to some historians, the temple serves several functions as the palace fort, place of worship and cave.
Ratu Boko stands 196 m above the sea level and covers as wide as 250.000 m2. It is divided into four parts, the center, the west, the southeast and the east. The center part of the temple consists of the main gate, the combustion temple, the pool, the pedestal stone and the paseban (audience hall). The southeast part covers the pendopo (attached open veranda serves as an audience hall), balai-balai (public hall or building), three temples, the pool and harem complex. In this part there is also a well called Amerta Mantana which literally means the holy water. It was believed that the well water had a merit to bring luck for those who drink it. On the east side, there are the cave complex, Buddha stupa and the pool. On the west side there are exciting hills for tourists to take a rest after taking a tour around the temple. More ... >>
Prambanan is the biggest Hindu temple complex in Indonesia and South East Asia. Prambanan is also known as Rara Jonggrang Temple. It was built at around 850 BC by Sanjaya Dynasty.
Prambanan occupies as wide as 39,8 acres of land. In 1991 it was contended by the UNESCO World Wonder Heritage. Soaring to 47 meters or 5 meters higher than Borobudur Temple, Prambanan looks dauntless and sturdy. This agrees with the purpose of its establishment, to show the glory of Hindu civilization in Java. More ... >>
One of the most visited cultural tourist destination in Yogyakarta is Taman Budaya Yogyakarta (TBY). The establishment of Taman Budaya was initially built at Bulaksumur area of Gadjah Mada University (UGM) on March 11, 1977 as a complex of Center for Cultural Development of Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY). The art and cultural complex was inaugurated by Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX who was the vice president of Indonesia then.
It was named Purna Budaya before it became Taman Budaya Yogyakarta. It served as a media to build, maintain, and develop the culture of DIY and its surroundings. Purna Budaya was built in two concepts, namely Pundi Wurya and Langembara. Being Pundi Wurya, Purna Budaya is intended to be an art center, equipped with such facilities as stage, dance studio, library, discussion and administration rooms. Being Langembara it is aimed as a room for exhibition and workshop, canteen and inn.
In 1978, Purna Budaya was developed into a technical unit for culture under the Directorate General for Culture based on the decree of the Minister of Education and Culture of Indonesia No. 0276/O/1978. In 1991, there was a reformation in the organization and work procedure of Purna Budaya based on the decree of the Minister of Education and Culture of Indonesia No. 0221/O/1991. Later in 1995, Prof. Dr. Soekanto H. Reksohadiprodjo, M.Com, the Dean of UGM (1994-1998), in his decree No. UGM/422/PL/06/IV to the Minister of Education and Culture of Indonesia, requested Purna Budaya building in Bulaksumur complex to be utilized as UGM student center. More ... >>
Visiting Beringharjo Market at Malioboro is an awesome experience. As the biggest traditional market, Beringharjo grew alongside the history of the City of Culture, Yogyakarta. The market is a concrete building and the oldest market with historical and philosophical values which cannot be separated from Yogyakarta Palace. Looking at its history, Beringharjo Market has gone through three phases, the kingdom, the colonization and the independence era. Thus, Beringharjo Market is always memorized for its value of collective memory in the heart of Yogyakarta people.
The establishment of this market is a part of the city planning design of Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat Sultanate which is usually called Catur Tunggal which covers four aspects namely the palace as the administrative center, the palace yard as the public space, the mosque as the prayer house and the market as the center of economic transaction. In term of setting, Beringharjo Market is located outside of Yogyakarta Palace (njobo keraton), at the north of the North Yard.
The area on which Beringharjo market stands was formerly a wood of banyan tree. Soon after the establishment of Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat Sultanate in 1758 AD, Yogyakarta people altered the area into a place for economic transaction. Hundreds of years later, Yogyakarta Palace realized the importance of establishing a more representative market. Therefore, on March 24, 1925, Nederlancsh Indisch Beton Maatschappij (the Indies Concrete Company) was delegated to build stalls. In August 1925, 11 stalls were finished and gradually, some more other came afterward. More ... >>
