Landscape in the Light of Regaining Independence

Reflections on the Relationships between Elements of Commemorative Architecture and Hindu-Buddhist Motifs in the Art of Central Java

Abstract

In Indonesian administrative division around twenty-five up to thirty houses (Rukun Keluarga, RK), represent a ward called RT (Rukun Tetangga). Several RTs constitute neighbourhood, a RW (Rukun Warga), which is a part of a kelurahan – sub-district, or desa – an administrative village. Above a kelurahan and desa lies a district (kecamatan), which is positioned below the regency (kabupaten) and city (kota). This paper is focused on the boundaries between these administrative units, as well as on other places in the Special Region of Yogyakarta (Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta) in Central Java, where one may encounter an architectural concrete or cement form, usually created in the 1960s, commemorating the Indonesian Independence Day. I hope to demonstrate that these objects can be considered as peculiar portals, leading back not only to the midtwentieth century but more curiously to the ages when Java was under the rule of Hindu and Buddha dynasties.