On Thursday and Friday, I was attending a Community Literacy Summit in Kediri, East Java. This literacy summit invites library owners, writers, and literacy advocates across the region and first of its kind. During this summit, there were plenty of activities including a walk through old town streets of Kediri and the heritage site called Setono Gedong.

I have been to Kediri multiple times but only during the summit, I learned the history of the place and found a nook and crannies of the city that I never explored before.

Setono Gedong 12th-Century Heritage Site

Our walk starts from the parking spots adjacent to the train station. It’s also close to Dhoho street which is connected to colonial era districts and shops. Today, it also functions the same as is still even more lively boasting an architectural style that spans from across generation.

Honestly, I never thought that crossing the main station, I’d find an ancient temple dating back to 12th. The place itself is already filled with houses and cramped. You would never guess that there is such a site in this area.

During the walk, we were guided by a local cultural heritage preservation community. One of the people was responsible for guiding us through the walk and told us the history of the street and around this heritage sites.

Today, this historical site is connected to a major mosque in the area and is also a place of resting for an islamic scholar. When visiting the area, we could see the cross between hindu, buddhism and islamism all together in this 3 hectare area. The guide was explaining many things under the heat of Kediri and all participants including myself were very intrigued.

Once we reached the temple area, I noticed some oddities. Typically, in a temple they are kept as is but in this temple, on top of it sit a traditional javanese pavilion. So, many of the participants including myself were guessing what happened to the temple.

I struck up a conversation with another participant who was as puzzled as I did. We examined together that these stones are actually temples similar to what we typically find in Magelang or Yogyakarta. It is very unfortunate that some of the stones are vandalized. Well, I won’t bore you with the details but back in the day, there was no regulation nor was it something very usual for people to just pick the stone and use it to build their homes.

For someone who used to be so engrossed with these types of architecture and history, It felt quietly sad that we will never see this temple in its majestic form.

Once we finished exploring this site, we were then taken to another side of this alleyway to the chinatown of Kediri.

The Chinatown around here does not feel like it’s Chinatown. However, some efforts to restore the area are seen throughout some of its alleyways. There are many houses in this area that are still kept as is and have some distinct features unlike modern houses. I’ve been to many Chinatowns in Indonesia but this one felt more subdued than many spots throughout Indonesia.

But there’s one spot that shows Chinese influence in this area. Kediri is known for its tofu production which has a distinct color and distinct savory flavor. Its local name is derived from Hokkien and has existed since around the 19th century. We were taken to the first place where they produced tofu known as Tahu Takwa called Lauw Soen Hok ( known as Bah Kacung).

Here are some more shots from around the place that felt like time stood still.

From the pioneer of tofu production in Kediri, we were taken to the estate of an influential and wealthy Chinese merchant. Today his house is home to local government buildings and services. We were also told about the opium trade and history surrounding it including how the sugarcane factory was the underbelly of it all.

While it isn’t something new to me given I visited many museums and learned about the story, it felt like another flashback and re-learning about the opium trades that funded the colonial government back in those days.

Free Morning Coffee

We finished the journey visiting a street that is now famous for its morning coffee spots. We were given 25000 IDR worth of vouchers to spend in the area. There were plenty of options and I chose to spend it on a cold americano. It was so refreshing after the long walks under the heat.

I planned on visiting more places but in the end, I decided to just go back home after the summit cause I was exhausted.

See you in my next adventure!

	𝘊𝘦𝘮𝘺 (𝘰𝘳 𝘔𝘢𝘤) 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝖼𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗏𝖾 𝗀𝖾𝗇𝖾𝗋𝖺𝗅𝗂𝗌𝗍 & 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘳, 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵, 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩. 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺, 𝘱𝘰𝘱 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺; 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘱𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘏𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣 𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘴.