The Keraton Kasultanan Ngayogyakarta which is 260 years old or easy to remember as Yogyakarta Palace was built by Prince Mangkubumi the successor of Sultan of Mataram in 1755 in this location which was once a Banyan forest .This place is at an higher elevation and is situated in between two rivers.The palace up to now is being maintained in Good condition.
The King uses this palace as his Royal residence for official meetings.The palace is situated in an imaginary line which connects the Volcanic Mountain Merapi and the Indian Ocean.Earlier days the King used the palace to see the volcanic conditions in Mount Merapi.From my Edu Hostel it is only 15 minutes walk to the Palace ground.
The Palace is open between 8 AM and 2 pm daily and it costs only RP 16000 including camera with a Tour Guide attached to a Group.Like the children of the Monarchy has access to the throne the Children of the Guards are employed as a respect to their loyality to the King even nowadays.
They boast a strength of 2000 and at any point of time will be around Hundreds inside the palace.They call themselves as the Guardians of the Palace.The Palace and beautifully enthralls everyone with the Javanese Architecture and beautifully maintained rooms
The Palace has been built taking into account the Spiritual beliefs of The Island nation people and the cosmos effect of the worldly things in and around us.It is a mixture of traditional Indian Art and Sculptors and the latter influence of Islam and Buddhism in this area.
Still the people of Yogyakarta feel it honor to work as Palace Guards and believe in the Kingdom.Hence this region has been declared as a Special Zone with the King being the Governor of the Administration.I feel this is a good example how traditions can be kept and transferred to the next generation to get a feeling of their Dynasty.
You can also Royal traditional carriages and Palanquins in one of the buildings that were used and still on special occasions to carry the Royal family members.In the Palace in one of the place Musical and dances are held at fixed timings and one can sit enjoy the Cultural Extravaganza at free.Mostly the dances depict episodes from Ramayana and the artists dress beautifully and grace the occassion.
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