National Museum of Indonesia, The First and Largest museum in Southeast Asia

Hi everybody? How are you? I hope you are healthy and happy. This year, I have a resolution to stay healthy and happy every day. For that, I took a trip to the museum. a journey can make us happy. The museum that I visited was called the Indonesian National Museum, which is located in Central Jakarta, Indonesia. This museum is often called the elephant museum, because in front of this museum there is a statue of an elephant. I went with two of my friends. I already treat them like my sister. We've been planning this for a long time, but we only had a week yesterday.

When I visited, it turned out that Sunday is a very busy time at the museum. There are a lot of visitors on Sunday. I thought it was a bit quiet, but there were a lot of visitors on Sundays. In fact, there are a lot of dating people who come to the museum. For me, going to the museum is a cheap date. You can enjoy history and dates without spending enough money. oh yes, the entrance ticket to this place is only IDR 5,000 per person. very cheap isn't it?

I just found out that this museum was built since the Dutch colonial era. In 1778 the Association Arts and Sciences Batavian was formed. This institution is independent. Its aim is to advance research in the fields of science and the arts. Including the fields of archeology, literature, ethnology and history. The slogan of this organization stands on the common good. Not long after that, one of the founders of this association donated a building and a collection of books and cultural objects. His name is J.C.M. Radermacher donated books and buildings. That was the beginning of museums and libraries.

The museum collection continues to grow. Finally, the Dutch government made a museum. This museum was named the National Museum of Indonesia which officially became official in 1868. Then this museum was known as the National Museum of Indonesia. Currently the museum has 160,000 collections consisting of collections of prehistory, archeology, foreign ceramics, numismatics, ethnography, and geography. For archaeological collections, there are many archeology ranging from Hindu and Buddhist cultures. These two cultures are usually known as the classical era of Indonesia. Most of the objects collected are objects from the Dutch colonial period. and, this museum is the first and largest museum in Southeast Asia

The collection in the museum was displayed at a cultural exhibition in Paris in 1931. However, there was a fire at the exhibition site. Fortunately, the organizers compensated for the incident. Then, after Indonesia's independence, this science and art association changed its name to the Indonesian Cultural Institute. Then on September 17, 1962, the Dutch government handed over the museum to the Indonesian government. Then, in 2005 the museum was managed by the Indonesian Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Indonesian tourism, in 2007, a new building was built in this museum, for the storage of new artifacts from prehistoric to modern times.

When I entered this museum, I was greeted with a statue of Bhairawa. The statue which has a height of approximately 414 cm is located in the Roco field, West Sumatra. It is estimated that the statue dates from the 13th century. Lord Lokeswara who became the embodiment of buddhisattvas on earth. This statue is of a man holding a skull cup in his left hand and cut it short with his right. He stood on the body and skull.

This building has six collection categories, namely fine art collections, ethnographic and archaeological collections, ceramic collections, collections of objects that have ethnographic value, collections of prehistoric times and Dutch colonial heritage. I really liked the prehistoric part. There are metals ranging from copper, bronze and gold. In fact, in Hindu-Buddhist religion there are ceremonial equipment and tools of daily life

Another thing is, I like traditional houses. Traditional houses store miniature traditional houses from all regions in Indonesia. When I travel here, I feel that Indonesia is a very rich country. There are many cultures in Indonesia, even Indonesia has many regional languages, each city is very different. I became very proud to be born as an Indonesian.

Indonesia is the only country that has more than 300 countries. This ethnographic collection comes from the Nias, Dayak, Badui, Toraja to Asmat tribes. I am proud to see the collection in this museum, but some rooms in this place are closed. Maybe it's being renovated so visitors are prohibited from visiting. Because it's still a pandemic, this place is only open until 4 pm. But, I'm still not satisfied visiting this place. I still want to see other collections. There are two more floors that I can't get to.

To visit this museum is actually very accessible. You can use a motorbike or a car. this place also provides parking for those of you who bring private vehicles. In fact, you can take the bus too. Because this place is very close to a bush stop. This place is a Monday off. So you can't visit the museum on Monday. All museums in Jakarta, seem to be closed on Mondays. However, the museum is open on Sundays. Oh yes, on another national holiday, this place is closed. Thus my visit to this place, hopefully entertained. Happy and healthy happy.

Nurdiani Latifah

_{My name is Nurdiani Latifah. I currently live in Jakarta – Indonesia, after 25 years I live in Bandung. I am a media staff at an NGO in Indonesia. I have worked in this institution for almost 2 years on issues of women and peace. I had been a journalist in Bandung for 3 years.}

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