The museum was built in 1925 and is located in front of the Kraton, it is the second best museum in Indonesia after Museum Nasional Jakarta. Its collections come not only from Jogja and Java, but also across Indonesia. There are prehistoric relics, ancient Javanese Literature, leather puppets, batik, keris (Javanese weapon), the bell that was used during Buddhist ceremonies in Candi Kalasan can also be found here. Last year the museum opened a second unit at House Condrokiranan in Wijilan (East Gate) to display collections that could not be seen due to lack of space.

Masjid Gedhe Kauman

The (mosque) built a mosque on May 29, 1773 by an architect named Kyai Wiryokusumo. Kauman Gedhe Mosque is the oldest mosque built by the Islamic Kingdom Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat. This mosque was built with strange architecture, Java with piled pyramidal roof. Mosque Gedhe Kauman not just a house of worship for Muslims, but also where the religious ceremony to celebrate the birth of the prophet Muhammad in progress.

The museum was established in December 22 1955 as an extension of the First Women Congress in Yogyakarta. The building was made using donation from women of all different layers in Indonesia. In 1983, The Women’s Movement Museum was renovated and relocated to a new building, changing its name to Mandala Bhakti Wanitatama. The name is an Indonesian phrase that means “The place for dutiful prime woman”. The building adopts a fascinating Javanese architecture with artistic carvings. It is located on the complex of Mandala Bhakti, Jl. Laksda Adisucipto No.88, just 5 km away from downtown Yogyakarta.

Inside the museum is displayed a Joglo Pendopo building that shows two reliefs which implies :

1. Indonesian Women Movement during the colonialization era.
2. Indonesian Women Movement during the fight for independence.
3. Indonesian Women Movement during the era of Democratic Liberal.
4. Indonesian Women Movement during the era of Guided Democracy
5. Indonesian Women Movement during the era of the New Order.

The Srikandi Hall, however, functions as an artifact display building. Some of the items displayed on the hall is the diorama of the women movement, photographic events, women battle cloths, sewing machine, typewriter, and other items that were once used by the brave women of Indonesia.

The compound of Jogja National Museum, which has been an important site for the development of fine arts in Indonesia, has actually sustained several transformations in its history. It was first established on January 15 1950 as the compound for ASRI. ASRI was renamed into a university called STSRI in 1968 before changing again into ISI in 1984. The compound has been empty ever since the relocation of ISI to Sewon, Bantul in 1998. Unfortunately, not much has been done to preserve and renovate the compound and utilize as an exhibition of arts, until the renovation plan that was initiated by KPH Wironegoro.

Jogja National Museum stands on 1.5 acres land with 5 main buildings. The plan was to renovate the buildings and rejuvenate it for art related programs and activities. Unfortunately, the renovation program was delayed due to the devastating earthquake that struck Yogyakarta in May 27 2006. The program was eventually continued on 2007 and finished in 2008. Ever since then, it has been used for the development of contemporary art. It is also projected to be a reknown performance area that will in time stand as the most sought after outdoor art venues in Yogyakarta. After being renovated, Jogja National Museum has hosted several art exhibitions and performances, one of them is the famous art event named Biennale Jogja X 2009 : Jogja Jamming.

Kraton Batik Museum Yogyakarta was inaugurated on October 31 2005 by the governor of Yogyakarta, Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X. Each collection of Batik designs in the museum have their own remarkable markings concerning an event in the live of a Javanese. For example, the Batik Truntum design is a batik style which is often used for traditional ceremonies and rituals, whereas Batik Nagasari is used in weddings. Having Batik related collections as the main feature, the museum also provides insights on Batik tools and the making of batk. Items such as a wooden mahogany cup, lerak, and srigading flowers are completed with preservatives and dye for the Batik process. Several antique household equipments are also displayed, such as the old-fashioned iron and antique bicycles.

The art of Batik is a heritage that has been passed from generations before the present generation. The practice of Batik art is not merely drawing and painting on top of a particular cloth, its also an ethical and aesthetical way of showing the skills of a Javanese. It is a very important culture for Javanese people and it will be inherited for many generations to come.

Coral Gallery covers an area of 800 m² . Coral Gallery is rather unique compared to other art galleries in Yogyakarta. From the start, its purpose was to provide art exhibitions, but not just any art exhibitions, but a combination of fine arts and applied arts.  Fine art (or visual art) is a form of art that is developed primarily for its aesthetics and concept value rather than its utility, such as the visual beauty of paintings, music, sculpture, dance and others. Whereas applied art is a form of art that involves the application of design and aesthetics to objects of function and everyday use, such as interior designing. An example, of this concept is the positioning of a painting on top of a sofa set. This can merge into a beautiful combination of fine and applied art when arranged in a good manner.

The collection of fine art is displayed on the first floor of the gallery, whereas applied art is displayed on the second floor. Various types of fine art displayed include paintings, sculpture, and furnitures. Coral Gallery is often used for art exhibition, especially exhibition that involves the application of fine and applied art. Usually, young artists and also experienced artists gather here when an exhibition is operating. A good combination of fine and applied art can bring a particular harmony in the environment, and can give a spiritful tone to one’s character. You can visit this unique gallery everyday from 9:00 AM till 5:00 PM.

Kolong Tangga Museum displays mora than 400 toys. Most of the toys are traditionally handmade, with wood or other natural materials. Almost 80% of the toys in the museum is a private collection of Corens that was donated because of his concern and also love for children. Through museum, children are educated about the traditional toys and games that exists in Indonesia from the past until present. Traditional games such as “gobak sodor”, “cublek-cublek suweng” or “patil lele” are some of the games that is still played until today, which is displayed in the museum as paintings with tools and equipments and step to step on how to play the game.

Kolong Tangga museum is expected to not just become a place to preserve and introduce Indonesian traditional art, especially toys and games, but also to inspire the young generation to create something better that can show the identity and status of their country.
Besides the collection of toys and games, the museum also provides a library named “Burung Biru” or “Blue Bird”, which displays mostly children books and even films. In the afternoon, children can gather here and listen to traditional fairytales that is told by the storyteller.

The existance of Dirgantara Mandala Museum was the result of  a merge between the AURI Central Museum and the Air Force Academy Museum in Yogyakarta. AURI (Indonesian Air Force) Central Museum,  was meant to be a facility to document all the historical activities and events that was conducted by the Indonesian Air Force. The museum was legitimated on April 4, 1969 by the air force marshal Rusmin Muryadin in Jl. Tanah Abang, Jakarta. Considering the important role of Yogyakarta as cradle of the Indonesian Air Force and center of activities as well as training ground for air force cadets during the years 1945-1949, this museum was eventually moved to Yogyakarta and merged with Air Force Academy Museum in Adisucipto air base in November 1977. It was not until July 29, 1978 those two merged museums were legitimated as Dirgantara Mandala TNI AU Central Museum. In 1984, due to the insufficient accommodation for the collections in addition to the unaccessible venue for public, the museum was relocated to Wonocatur Adisutjipto Air Grounds.

The museum displays more than 40 different aircrafts that were used by the Indonesia Air Force during 1945-1970. Some of the aircrafts displayed in the museum are the Catalina flying boat, Grumman flying boat, Auster MkII, Lavochkin LA-11, PZL-104 Wilga, Mitsubishi Army type 98, Nakajima KI43 Oscar, Zero, Mustang, NA16/AT-6, Vultee Valiant, B25, B26, C47, Hillier 360, DH114 Vampire, Sikorsky UH34D, Boeing Stearman, MIG15, MIG17, MIG19, MIG21, MI4, L-29 Dolphin, CAC F-86 Avon Sabre and T-33A . All of the aircrafts and artifacts in the museum are well maintained and treated with care as some of them are aged more than 50 years old.

Dirgantara Mandala Museum is open daily for public from from 8.30 am -2.30 pm. The supporting facilities in this museum are library, auditorium, parking lot, musholla (a small mosque), and toilet.

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Kekayon Puppet Museum is situated on Jl. Wonosari KM 7 No.277 Baturetno Village, Bantul Region, Yogyakarta. Architecturally speaking, this 1.1 ha wide building complex is made in accordance to traditional Javanese architecture and dominated by Joglo shape. The first time entering this building, you will encounter a room named Sasono Pratelo which functions as an auditorium equipped with audio visual facilities to give visitors a basic understanding about the collections of this museum. Besides being a recreational site, Kekayon Museum also brings educational purposes, especially related to the history of each wayangs, and the story related to each one. The rarest collections of wayang in the museum is the 100 personifications of Kurawa, the archenemy of Pandawa, and the 250-year old Wayang Golek originated from Jepara. There are also puppets and costumes in detail representing characters from the Ramayana Ballet performance, such as Rama, Shinta, Rahwana, Hanoman, and others.

The Museum provides 9 small exhibition rooms displaying different wayang characters in each room.  There is a much larger room named Pendopo, a traditional ornate of open air pavilion with a pyramid–styled roof, used to accommodate social activities such as wedding, art exhibition, meeting and shadow puppet performance. There are a lot of things to describe about wayang, so if  by any chance you are interested in visiting the museum, you should hire a guide with you to explain about each wayang you encounter. For example, Wayang Purwa, is a kind of wayang that’s performed in the Kediri area, made from buffalo skin. Wayang Gedhog on the other hand tells the story of Dewi Candrakirana, Wayang Klithik tells the story of Damarwulan and Minakjinggo, Wayang Dupara tells the story of Diponegoro, and Wayang Suluh tells the story of the struggle experienced by the Indonesian citizens to seek independence from the colonialist. There are also wayang collections from other countries outside indonesia, such as Wayang Potehi dari China, and puppets used in Thailand, Amerika, and India. Besides wayang, Kekayon museum also displays many collections of traditional mask, especially masks used in traditional art performance related to wayang story from all over Indonesia.

The main purpose of the establishment of the museum is the preservation of National Cultural Heritage, especially the wayang culture and others related to that. It is also a facility to develop the Youth Domestic Tourism, as a means to provide more awareness and understanding for the younger generation about the culture of their noble ancestors. Kekayon Puppet Museum is open for public everyday from 8:00 AM to 15:00 PM and is subject to substansial booking given early notification. The admission fee is only IDR 3.000 but you can receive guide book for an additional IDR 2.000.

It all started in 1982 when Philip Beale came to visit Borobudur Temple. During his visit, he came across the five bas relief carvings found on the temple. The carving displays a traditionally built double outrigger vessel that was used for the voyage known to history as “The Borobudur Ship Expedition”, carried out in the 8th century. The voyage demonstrated the ancient trading links between Indonesia and Africa during that moment.  Inspired by the epic voyage, Beale thought of the idea to reconstruct the vessel and prove the verity of history.

Beale started his mission by contacting Nick Burningham in 2002, who was asked to design a vessel resembling that of the Borobudur Ship that was displayed in the carvings. He completed the design before 2003, where it was taken to Assad Abdullah, an experienced and skilled boat maker residing in Madura.  Abdullah, with his remarkable boat making ability, was able to build the historical replica of The Borobudur Ship in less than 6 months in 2003 using only traditional technology in doing so.

The Borobudur Ship Expedition II took place during August 2003 – February 2004, starting from Jakarta, the ship sailed through Sunda Strait until southern Maldives and from there onwards to northern Madagascar, covering an approximate distance of 11,000 miles. The main purpose for this expedition was to revisit the cultural influences that Indonesia had on Africa, and to prove that a trade between Indonesia and these two African regions could have actually been accomplished via outrigger sailing vessels before Borobudur was constructed in the early 8th century. The route followed has been called the “Cinnamon Route”, and while it is known that boats from the Maldives and Madagascar came here to buy spices, bringing iron-ore, ivory and skins in trade, very little is known about the ships themselves.

After the expedition, the ship  was dry-docked in Ghana for several months while arrangements were made to dispatch it back to Indonesia. After experiencing several delays it was finally dismantled and shipped to Indonesia, on the grounds of Borobudur Complex, and was given its own place named Samudraraksa Museum.

Prince Diponegoro was born in the Kingdom of Yogyakarta on November 11 1785. He was the oldest son of Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono III with his concubine Raden Ayu Mangkorowati. Because he was a descendent of the Sultan, he obtained the title Kanjeng as an adult. Prince Diponegoro’s interest in religious life and equality with the inhabitants of Yogyakarta eventually made him leave the Keraton and chose to stay at Tegalrejo.

Sasana Wiratama Museum is built in an area of 2 hectares at Tegalrego village, Yogyakarta. The main monumental architecture is designed to resemble the traditional Javanese style shaped as Joglo. The project initiator of the monument was Mayor General Surono and was later supported by Mayor General Widodo, both a commander of the Indonesian National Military. On August 9 1969, the first stage of the construction was finished and was inaugurated by the former president of Indonesia, General Soeharto. It was named Sasana Wiratama which means a place for soldiers.

The museum displays around 100 items consisting of Original goods used by Prince Diponegoro during his service for the country, such as lance, sword, iron hammer, coins,precious stones and also furnitures. Some of the goods are considered sacred to the owner, such as the Keris named Kyai Omyang and the Sword originating from Demak Kingdom. The sacred weapons are belived to be able to protect the owner from disasters. There are also some household tools made from brass in 1700s such as betel container and its kecohan (container in which someone spits after chewing betel), canting (an instrument used to make batik) holder, bringsing pot, and various forms of kacip (a tool to slice areca nut as an ingredient to chew betel).

One of the main attraction of the museum is the broken wall which according to history was the media used by Prince Diponegoro to escape from enemy siege. Several items are specially treated, such as relics of Sri Sultan Hamenkubuwono II that existed from the mid 1700s.

The museum is open for public from Monday-Saturday from 8:00 AM – 1:00 PM. It also offers public facilities such meeting hall and homestead that can be rented by any resident.