Do you agree that Yogyakarta Palace that has been 300 years old is the first palace of Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat kingdom? Please visit Pesanggrahan Ambarketawang to the south of Yogyakarta city center to confirm your belief. The building in the area served as the first palace of Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat kingdom for a year, from 9 October 1755 until 7 October 1756.
A couple of days ago, YogYES visited this pesanggrahan. We left from Kotagede through Kusumanegara and Sultan Agung roads to come to the crossroad of the Grand Post Office. From there, we kept on moving westwards until the first T-junction after Gamping market and we turned left. Then, we turned left again after we found a small direction plank informing the direction to Pesanggrahan Ambarketawang.
First, we were surprised to find that the road was blind. The end of the road was rice field, while the sides of it were houses and yards. We thought of being lost, but finally we changed our mind when we looked to the right side and saw wall in its blackening color. The thickness of the wall assured us that the wall was part of pesanggrahan.
Then, we approached a local inhabitant named Tarsono who happened to be in the location. We did not know that he turned to be the person in charge of managing the land in the pesanggrahan. Through him, who is 72 years old now, we could know parts of the existing building and some areas that used to be important parts of the building that was built by Paku Buwono II.
The wall that we saw the first time turned to be the front wall of this building, while the vacant area in the east of the wall was the gate to get into the pesanggrahan. The field to the south of the wall with big trees on it was the square of the pesanggrahan, while the wall at the south of the wall was a horse stable.
Close to the front wall, there is magic well. The water of the well that is as old as Pesanggrahan Ambarketawang is believed to cure illness. Tarsono told that once there was a paralyzed person who bathed with the water from the well and he could walk at once. To date, local people still make use of this magic well, particularly when there is member of the family who gets sick.
If we look carefully, right to the left of the well, there is a construction of bricks parallel to the ground. The brick construction was the upper part of the underground channel stretching 6 meters northwards. If we follow the bricks, we will see similar bricks construction as the end of the tunnel through which people can pass by.
Still in the adjacent area, we saw a kind of basement floor with moss growing on it. We thought it a common cement building, but it turns to be part of the upper floor of this building. This is the only upper floor that we can still see to exist since the other similar building had disappeared and the ground floor is buried in the earth.
In addition to parts of the pesanggarahan, there is also new building in the form of a hall. Various Javanese arts are performed in the hall, such as macapat or the singing of traditional Javanese songs that is done every Thursday of special Javanese weekday called Pahing and martial art that is held on Tuesdays. The Javanese songs sung in the performance usually tell about the breakup of Mataram kingdom into Surakarta and Yogyakarta, such as the one written in the Chronicle of Giyanti.
After we walked around the area, we walked through the path on the rice field to the north direction. There, we found another part of the pesanggrahan, in the form of wall the directly borders to cemetery. The thick wall of which color is blackening is believed to be the rear wall of the pesanggrahan that stretched to the eastwards and westwards.
To the east of the wall, there is a big stone encircled with iron fence. The big stone was pas of a limestone hill existing in the area. The story tells that it was the existence of the limestone hill deciding the location of the palace construction. Now, the hill has disappeared since much of the limestone was utilized to build houses.
To the right of the big stone, there is a stage as big as the stone, which is not part of the pesanggrahan. The stage was used in one of the offering ceremonies, namely the slaughtering of bekakak (the mannequin of bridal couple). This ceremony is held in commemoration of the many people who were killed while collecting the limestone and now it is done once a year after the date of 20 of Javanese month Sapar.
Generally, the procession of the offering ceremony is done until the front part of pesanggrahan Ambarketawang. Various art performances such as leather puppet, macapat, gamelan and so on are held there. Tarsono told that the offering ceremony that is often called as Saparan is still crowded by visitors both from nearby areas and from distant villages.
If we come to visit pesanggrahan Ambarketawang when Saparan ceremony is held, the enchantment of the first area of Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat kingdom will be complete. However, if you do not have time to visit on the day, you can still enjoy its history anytime. At least, you can enjoy the enchantment of the area of this pesanggrahan. No expenses are imposed to enter this area.
source : http://www.yogyes.com/
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