Java Jamboree: A Castle in YogYag

About one or two kilometer away towards the west of Yogyakarta Kraton, there is a 1758 pleasure garden built by Sultan Hamengkubuwono I for the Royal family. Y. Groneman in 1885, wrote Het waterkasteel te Yogyakarta. Subsequently, the Dutch was said to have coined the name The Water Castle for this pleasure garden, Tamansari which means beautiful garden or perfumed garden.The first time we set foot on it, I had thought it was rather new and no wonder - After being badly damaged by an earthquake in 1867, some parts of it, such as the Umbul Binangun bathing pools have been restored. Walking along the outer pool, you would perhaps imagine yourself being watched by the Sultan himself and why not? This is where the womenfolks from the Royal family used to swim and the Sultan would be watching them from a two storey building that separates the outer swimming pool and the inner one. If the Sultan fancy the women, they would be invited to join him for a swim in the inner pool. Now, for the price of a ticket, we invited ourselves in! That was great, wasn't it?


Taman Sari or the Water Castle...

Traveling Tip: Immerse in the past!