Mulawarman Museum, Captures the Traces of 700 Years of Civilization
Helloindonesia.id – A trip to Tenggarong will not be complete without a stop at the Mulawarman Museum. Here we can learn a glimpse of the history of the sultanate that once triumphed for approximately 7 centuries and controlled most of the Kutai Kertanegara area, East Kalimantan.
In this museum building that once functioned as the sultanate palace, visitors can see various collections of objects from the sultanate and the rich culture of Kutai.
This palace was founded around 1936, namely during the reign of Adji Muhammad Parikesit. The building stands on an area of ​​2,270 square meters, with the main door facing directly to the east.
The construction of the building was carried out by Hollandsche Beton Maatschappij (HBM) with the design being carried out by an architect named Charles Marie François Henri Estourgie. This palace is influenced by the architectural style of European buildings, equipped with a basement and a large hall in the middle of the building.
This palace is the first Kutai Kartanegara Sultanate palace built with concrete. The palaces that had been built before were made of wood, which made it easy to rot and burn. As was the case with the previous palace building which was built during the reign of Sultan Aji Muhammad Alimuddin (1899-1910 AD).
After the independence period, the Kutai Sultanate merged with the Republic of Indonesia and this palace was no longer used because the era of the sultan’s rule officially ended. The palace was then handed over to the local government of East Kalimantan on November 25, 1971, which was later handed over to the Ministry of Education and Culture as a state museum.
As a museum, this building stores various collections of historical objects, most of which are dominated by relics belonging to the Kutai Sultanate. Among these collections, among others, the throne of the Sultan and his Empress made by Ir. van der Lube in 1935. In addition, there are a pair of gold-plated oxen statues made in 1850, which are sacred animals, the official symbols of the sultanate.
Other sultanate relics are the oversized clothes of the Kutai Sultans, traditional weapons, traditional ceremonial instruments of the sultanate and gamelan instruments as gifts from the Sultanate of Yogyakarta Hadiningrat.
Outside of the collection, we can also find guest table sets from the Bulungan Sultanate. Collections of ancient ceramics and numismatic (currency) relics found in the Kutai area can also be seen here. There is also an imitation of the Yupa inscription found in Muara Kaman, which is a marker of the transition of pre-historic times in the East Kalimantan region.
We can also see and learn various knick-knacks of traditional clothing from various tribes in East Kalimantan, one of which is the doyo ulap weaving which is the original textile of the Benuaq Dayak tribe. [Ardee/IndonesiaKaya]
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