SPACE AND MYTH IN SURAKARTA KASUNANAN PALACE, INDONESIA A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION OF SPATIAL AND MYTHICAL QUALITIES OF THE PALACE AND HOW THEY RELATE TO THE POWER AND AUTHORITY OF THE K1NG/DOM By WAHYU DEWANTO (Architect) SUBMITTED IN FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE & URBAN DESIGN UNIVERSITY OF TASMANIA LAUNCESTON U-S-T-R-A-L—I-A NOVEMBER 1997 STATEMENT OF AUTHENTICITY OF MATERIAL This dissertation contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any institution and to the best of my knowledge and belief, the research contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text of the dissertation. ahyu Dewanto Launceston, 21 November 1997 STATEMENT OF AUTHORITY OF ACCESS TO LOAN AND COPYING The University of Tasmania and its approved officers and representatives are authorised to loan or make limited copies of this dissertation for general dispersal in the interests of academic research, subject to the Copyright act 1968. Signed Wahyu Dewanto Launceston, 21 November 1997 111 abstract Surakarta Kasunanan palace, in central Java, is an important part of the heritage of the Indonesian nation. It is regarded as a centre of Javanese culture. The architecture of the palace represents the complexity of Indonesian culture, where local tradition and external social, cultural and religious influences are manifested in the form and structure. Surakarta Kasunanan palace as a whole is considered a sacred place, gives a religious impression and reflects the characteristics of the kingdom. Within the palace, each component becomes a symbol of Javanese philosophy resulting from a combination of various beliefs, including indigenous Javanese animism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. This study attempts to investigate the spatial and mythical qualities of the palace and to analyse how they relate to the power and authority of the king as the centre of a Javanese Islamic kingdom. It is anticipated that this will provide an alternative approach in the study of traditional architecture, where emphasis is placed on the cultural, social and political aspects which influence the physical forms. A large portion of the work in this investigation has dealt with the arrangement of the palace. Yet, more emphasis has been placed on aspects of the relationship between people and their physical surroundings, than on the information about its physical character. In short, this research is an attempt to discover, through a variety of methods, the spiritual effects that the physical world exerts upon Javanese people. As the history of Surakarta Kasunanan palace has been the foundation of thinking about values and norms of Javanese culture in the last two centuries, so the history of its architecture has influenced the criteria that inform our view of Javanese architecture. This thesis examines the Surakarta Kasunanan palace, its history, its evolution, its built form, the myth behind the palace, and the political and social backgrounds in iv order to understand the role of the palace as a symbol of the power and authority of the king, and as a model of traditional Javanese architecture. The general purpose of the research is to address questions concerning aspects of Javanese architecture, particularly the space, layout and form of the buildings, and how these related to users' behaviour. The investigation focuses on the Surakarta Kasunanan palace and the question how the mythology surrounding it was used to reinforce the power and authority of the king. V PREFACE Surakarta Kasunanan palace, in the city commonly known as 'Solo', is a significant trace of the traditional heritage of Javanese culture. About 85 million people whose mother tongue is Javanese still admire and respect Surakarta Kasunanan palace as a manifestation of the glorious era of the Javanese kingdom in the past. Although Surakarta Kasunanan palace no longer has significant influence in a real political sense in Indonesia, it is still regarded as a centre of traditional art and culture. The architecture of the palace represents the complexity of Indonesian culture, whose local traditions and external social, cultural and religious influences are manifested in its form and structure. The palace serves as a historical link between the past and the present in terms of cultural values and social changes, and is a symbol of the traditional power and authority of the king. Surakarta Kasunanan palace as a whole is considered a sacred place, gives a religious impression and reflects the characteristics of the kingdom. Within the palace, each component becomes a symbol of Javanese philosophy resulting from a combination of various beliefs, including indigenous Javanese animism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. As a Javanese architect, I believe that it is my responsibility to understand more about Javanese culture, and the roots of its architecture. Much of the architecture of Java is obscure and much is probably unknown. Some research has been done on the architecture of Surakarta Kasunanan palace, including its structure, types, style, materials and decorative elements. One of the studies on Surakarta Kasunanan palace was carried out by Timothy Earl Behrend (1982), who successfully explored the symbolic concepts of the palace. It is probably the most thorough study on the abstract concepts of the palace to date. However, no research has been conducted from an architectural point of view on the relationship between the layout and architectural design vi of the palace and the political authority of the kingdom. This study attempts to analyse the spatial and mythical qualities of the palace and to investigate how they relate to the power and authority of the king as the centre of a Javanese Islamic kingdom. It is anticipated that this will provide an alternative approach in the study of traditional architecture, where emphasis is placed on the cultural, social and political aspects which influence the physical forms. This dissertation examines the Surakarta Kasunanan palace, its history, its evolution, its built form, the myths behind the palace, and the political and social background, in order to understand the role of the palace as a symbol of the power and authority of the king. It is expected that this study will provide a different perspective, and add a new dimension, to the study of Javanese culture and Indonesian architecture. It is one way of utilising a specific knowledge of Javanese architecture in order to recollect rootedness in a tradition. Through the study of mythic realms in Javanese architecture a contribution is able to be given to the sensitivity and awareness of 'mythic power' for the architects in their modern design process. The purpose of this research is to address questions concerning specific aspects of Javanese architecture. The questions focus particularly on the space, layout and form of the buildings, and also incorporate the pattern of users' behaviour, ritual and the myth behind these elements and their connection with the power and authority of the king. How did the spatial form of the palace complex affect the power and authority of the king? This study examines the palace in detail in order to reveal the architectural concepts that lie behind this most important Javanese building complex begun in the eighteenth century. In order to complete this study, it was necessary to undertake studies in other connected fields such as history, sociology, and anthropology to gain an understanding of Surakarta Kasunanan palace and its culture. I was raised in Surakarta, and gained my degree (Ingenieur) in architecture from Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta. As a Javanese person, I inevitably have been vii influenced by the culture of Java, including the mythology and beliefs common to all Javanese. As a scholar, by doing this research, I realised that I had to approach the subject objectively in order to achieve the best possible results. During my study, I have largely confined myself to Western sources available in Australia, although some archival documents from Indonesia have been used to supply details. Maps and plans used in this study were obtained during field research and from the information from other institutions, especially the study of Studi Pengembangan Kawasan Wisata Budaya Keraton Kasunanan Surakarta, by the Department of Tourism, Post and Telecommunication; Directorate General of Tourism, and with the cooperation of the Technical Faculty of Gadjah Mada University, 1992. In the middle of my study, I went to Holland to obtain some detailed information. Many monographs and old plans from Leiden have provided detailed information for this research. Much of the data used in this research is found in many books and has become common knowledge, especially for Javanese people. For that reason, some of the data found in this dissertation may not be credited to a specific author or book. The dissertation is divided into eight chapters. The first chapter describes the background of the chosen case, sets the objectives of the research, formulates the questions, hypothesis, outline, and methodology of the research. The second chapter contains a discussion of Javanese culture and social structure in the past. It describes religion and the concept of life of Javanese people. Chapter three examines the history of the establishment of the palace and external influences -- Chinese, Indian, Islamic and European -- which played an important role in colouring the development of Surakarta Kasunanan palace. The fourth chapter describes the physical aspects of the palace; the spatial arrangement and open spaces within the complex. The underlying concept of the palace's arrangement is essential to be unfolded here because the physical layout of the palace is the main object to be examined. The fifth chapter deals with the position of the king; both as a political and spiritual leader. It examines how the Javanese people treated their kings and how the viii kings exerted their power over the people.