Sultan HB X Wants To Modernize The Yogyakarta Palace

Sri Sultan HB X/ANTARA

YOGYAKARTA - The King of the Ngayogyakarta Palace Hadiningrat Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X asked his five daughters to do "cultural repackaging" or repackaging the presentation of palace culture in a contemporary way so that it is more attractive to the millennial generation.

"Ngarsa Dalem X (Sultan HB X) 'dawuh' (told) me and my brothers to 'repackaging' (repackaging) the (palace) culture," said Kawedanan Hageng Punakawan (KHP) Nitya Budaya Yogyakarta Palace GKR Bendara in a Webinar Jogja International Batik Biennale (JIBB) 2021, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, September 28.

To his five daughters, Bendara told, Sultan HB X expressed his desire for the Yogyakarta Palace to be more open.

"Ngarsa Dalem 'dawuh' to the five of us how we can open ourselves to the current generations in a more contemporary way," said the youngest daughter of Sultan HB X.

As a manifestation of the "cultural repackaging" project, according to him, the Yogyakarta Palace is currently carrying out major renovations to both the exterior and interior of the building without changing the essence of the inherent cultural values.

"We are making massive changes in the Keraton," said Bendara.

For example, the Yogyakarta Palace Museum, he said, is currently being renovated so that it can appear up-to-date with the use of technology and delivery methods that are able to touch the younger generation.

Renovation of the entire building was also carried out in the Keraton batik room. Not only targeting the physical building, according to Bendara, the name of the batik room will also be changed to a "life cycle space".

"Why the life cycle, because not only batik is part of our culture, but there is also lurik, there are also other types of textiles, there are also meanings from the use of batik motifs in the life journey of the Javanese people," he said.

The renovation work, according to him, is estimated to be completed by the end of 2021. "This will be completed by the end of the year. Please visit at the beginning of the year," said Bendara.

Changes, continued Bendara, are not only in the museum building, but also include the way of presenting the culture in the Yogyakarta Palace without reducing the essence of the culture by creating an official website, Instagram account, to the Keraton Youtube account.

"This is a way how we can preserve our culture," he said.

Efforts to reform the Yogyakarta Palace, said Bendara, had also been carried out during the leadership of Sri Sultan HB VII, which made the Yogyakarta Palace more open at that time.

Based on historical records in a manuscript, Bendara said that Sultan HB VII at that time asked the princes of the palace to mass-produce palace batik for sale.

"This is what has finally pioneered the creativity of the batik world to date. Of course, if HB VII at that time did not allow it, then we most likely don't use palace batik, especially Yogyakarta Palace batik," said Bendara.