On Friday, 23rd May 2014, the website Singosari
(http://www.singosari.info) was officially launched in Museum Nasional, Jakarta.
It will be the reunion place for all the cultural heritage which came from the
era of Singhasari.
It was in the seminar session of Kekunaan Singhasari that
Jos Taekema officially introduced and launched the website that contain the
information on Singhasari and its cultural heritage. One of the greatest art products
from that era is the Prajnaparamita statue. Some people considered the statue
as the representation of Ken Dedes. Ken Arok, who founded the Singhasari
Kingdom, married Ken Dedes as he believed that she would be the mother of the
Kings of Java.
The statue itself showed the
serenity and peacefulness of the wise boddhisatvadevi.
After residing for a very long time in the Netherland, in 1978 this statue came
back to Indonesia. Thirty six years after the return of the Queen, the richness
of Singhasari which were scattered all over the world could be united in the
cyber world.
The period of Singhasari was really short, only around
seventy years, but the cultural heritage is rich with beauty and skilled
crafts. Coming from the 13th Century, the beauty of the statue of Prajnaparamita
shows the high skill of the craftsman, and the beauty and richness of culture
from that era. Unfortunately, the temples of Singhasari are sometimes found
empty. According to J.L.A. Brandes, in the year of 1893, eight statues were
taken to Batavia (now Jakarta) with the reason of security. According to
Brandes, the statues in the temples were susceptible to be ruined or stolen. From
then on, the richness of Singhasari was sent throughout the world.
Most of the cultural heritage from Singhasari period are residing
in the Museum Nasional Indonesia (started as the Bataviaasch
Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen) in Jakarta, and in the Rijksmuseum Vokenkunde (currently
became the National Museum of World Cultures) in Leiden. Those two leading
institutions working hand in hand to share the cultural richness of Singhasari
to the world through the internet.
After the seminar, there was a video mapping on the façade
of the museum which faced the courtyard. It was an amazing performance.
Together with the dance performance showing the Queen Prajnaparamita in the
courtyard of the Museum Nasional Indonesia,
the event brought back the glory of Singhasari.
No comments:
Post a Comment