Bogor

Bogor is a city in West Java with a population of approximately 800,000 people in the CBD area and 2,000,000 in suburban area, bringing a total of 3 million population. It was the capital of Indonesia during the British occupation under Stamford Raffles and was used as the capital by the Dutch during the dry season, then known as Buitenzorg (meaning "beyond worry").

Bogor boasts a presidential palace, a deer park and a botanical garden in the town centre. It is home to the Institut Pertanian Bogor (or Bogor Institute of Agriculture) and CIFOR, the Center for International Forestry Research.

Bogor is on a main road from Jakarta to Bandung, over the Puncak pass. To the south of the city are large tea plantations. During colonial times the Bogor area developed as a centre for plantations. Apart from the tea (Mount Mas), there were coffee plantations at nearby Sukabumi and later vast rubber plantations that stretched from Bogor as far as Citereup and Bukit Sentul.

The suburban area of Bogor is part of the Bogor Regency, while the urban is the Bogor City. Currently Bogor bears the nickname "the Rain City" (Kota Hujan), suggesting that it is very wet and nearly always rains even during the dry season.

History

In 450 A.D. Bogor was part of Tarumanegara, the very first Hindu kingdom in Java, and the second in Indonesia after the Kutai Kingdom in Kalimantan. The most popular king of Tarumanegara was Purnavarman, who ruled around the 5th century. It was during his reign the kingdom reached its golden era. The city was then, with the name Pakuan, the capital of Sunda Kingdom, whence came the founder of the Majapahit empire, Raden Wijaya. Bogor was later part of the Pajajaran Kingdom (1482), ruled by King Siliwangi.

Bogor now houses numerous stone inscriptions (prasasti) from both the Tarumanegara and the Sunda Kingdom. These inscriptions, scattered throughout the urban, suburban, and rural areas of Bogor, are written in Sanskrit using the Pallava writing system.

The most well-known inscriptions are:

* Ciaruteun inscription

This is a large boulder found in a streambed upon which Purnavarman's footprints were engraved together with his Pallava handwriting. The set of footprints show to many that Purnavarman was a kind of divine being, or an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. Indeed, the text on the stone compares his footprints to Vishnu's.
The boulder has now been removed to a protected location with metal fences surrounding it, just a few kilometres away from the river where it was discovered.

* Kaki Gajah inscription

As its name implies, this brown flat stone bears a set of an elephant's footprints. The elephant is presumed to be the royal elephant Purnavarman rode on. The text compares it to the mythical elephant Airawata which belongs to another Hindu god Indra. This inscription was discovered not far from Prasasti Ciaruteun.

* Batutulis inscription

This inscription is located in Batutulis area in the urban Bogor. It is now placed inside a house, across from former president Sukarno's house. It is actually a collection of four stones made by Prabu Surawisesa, one of king Siliwangi's son to honor his father. The first small stone, bearing Siliwangi's footprints, is placed in front of the second stone engraved with the impressions of his knees. The third one is a large, flat, upright brown stone carved with the king's Sanskrit handwriting. These three stones are arranged in such a way that they give the impression that the king was actually kneeling down when carving.
The last stone is a strange cylindrical rock that is set beside the rest of them. Many people say it was Siliwangi's staff, although it seems impossible since this rock is quite wide in diameter.

Rubber trees were brought to Buitenzorg's botanical gardens in 1883.[1]

In 2004, Bogor and St. Louis, Missouri, USA became Sister Cities.

Language

The traditional language of Bogor is Sundanese. However, many think that Bogor's Sundanese is somewhat harsher and uses much more slang than any other part of the province[citation needed]. Due to the expansion of Jakarta, more people from different places and different ethnicities stay in Bogor. Indonesian, the official national language, is becoming more common in the urban area.

Transportation

The easiest and the most popular means of transportation in Bogor is the public vans ("angkot", the acronym of angkutan kota). They serve certain routes indicated by the combination of their numbers and their colours, which come in green and blue. These angkots are run by private owners and the prices are fixed.

Buses and taxis are not present in particularly large numbers, especially taxis because they are relatively expensive. Minibuses are more commonly seen in the city. Meanwhile, the railroads connect Bogor to other big cities in Java, such as Jakarta (to the north) and Sukabumi (to the south).

For leisure means, the traditional horse carriages are available. These are called delman, and they have only two wheels, different from the four-wheeled andong existing only in the province of Yogyakarta. Delman in Bogor are not delicately decorated like their fellows in Jakarta, Bandung, or Yogyakarta.

There are also becak, a type of man-pedaled carriages in which the driver pedals at the back and the passengers' seat facing front with a roof above. A becak can only carry two or three people at a time. Becak can also be used to deliver heavy loads such as fruits and vegetables around wet markets.

In addition, Bogor is also accessible via Jagorawi Tollway, which is the earliest tollway in Indonesia.

Taken from. Wikipedia

Indramayu

The town of Indramayu is located in the North coastal area of West Java, and East from Jakarta (the capital) and North East from the city of Bandung and North West of the city of Cirebon. The town of Indramayu is situated below sea level, which means that it is risky if there is high tide in stormy conditions. The town is only protected by some dunes and barrages at the seaside. The climate is quite dry. The number of (registered) citizens of Indramayu regency is about 1.6 miljon. The town itself only inhabited by less than 24.000 people. The estimated land surface of the town of Indramayu is 2.006 square kilometres. Crude oil is found in the Indramayu area. The local population nearby the shore are living from fishing. Furthermore there is kapok, clove, citrus and other fruit cultivating. Indramayu is famous for the special sweet mangosteens. Indramayu was knowns as Indonesian nr 1. rice Supplier in early 80's to late 90's. Because of a lack of industry and labour provision, there is a migration to other parts of Indonesia.

Taken from : www.wikipedia.com

pasundan land of smile

West Java

West Java (Indonesian: Jawa Barat), with population around 35.72 million, is the most populous province of Indonesia, located on Java Island. Its capital city is Bandung.

History

The oldest human inhabitant archaeological findings in the region were unearthed in Anyer (the western coast of Java) with evidences of bronze and iron metallurgical culture dated back to the first millennium AD. The prehistoric Buni (the present-day Bekasi) clay pottery were later developed with evidences found from Anyer to Cirebon. Some artifacts (dated from 400 BC — AD 100) such as food and drink containers were found mostly as burial gifts. There is also archeological evidence in Batujaya Archaeological Site dating from the 2nd century, and according to Dr Tony Djubiantono, the head of Bandung Archeology Agency, Jiwa Temple in Batujaya, Karawang, West Java was also built around this time.

Recorded history of West Java administration was started from the fourth century with the existence of Tarumanagara kingdom. Seven inscribed stones written in Wengi letters (used in the Indian Pallava period) and in Sanskrit language describe most of the kings of Tarumanagara. Records of Tarumanegara's administration lasted until the sixth century, which coincides with the attack of Srivijaya as stated in the Kota Kapur inscription (AD 686).

The Sunda kingdom then came into the ruling power of the region, the reference to which were found in the Kebon Kopi II inscription (AD 932).

An ulema known today as Sunan Gunung Jati settled in Banten Girang, with the intention of spreading the world of Islam in this still pagan town. In the meantime, the Sultanate of Demak from central Java grew into an immediate threat to Sunda kingdom. To defend against the threat, Prabu Surawisesa Jayaperkosa signed a treaty (known as the Luso Sundanese Treaty) with the Portuguese in 1512. In return, the Portuguese was granted an accession to build fortresses and warehouses in the area, as well as trading agreement with the kingdom. This first international treaty of West Java with the Europeans was commemorated by the placement of the Padrao stone monument at the riverbank of the Ciliwung River in 1522.

Although the treaty with Portuguese had been established, it could not come to realization. Sunda Kalapa harbour fell under the alliance of the Sultanate of Demak and the Sultanate of Cirebon (former vassal state of Sunda kingdom) in 1524 after their troops under Paletehan alias Fadillah Khan had conquered the city. In 1524/1525, their troops under Sunan Gunung Jati also seized the port of Banten and established the Sultanate of Banten which was affiliating with the Sultanate of Demak. The war between the Sunda kingdom with Demak and Cirebon sultanates then continued for five years until a peace treaty were made in 1531 between King Surawisesa and Sunan Gunung Jati. From 1567 to 1579, under the last king Raja Mulya, alias Prabu Surya Kencana, Sunda kingdom declined essentially under the pressure from the Sultanate of Banten. After 1576, the kingdom could not maintain its capital at Pakuan Pajajaran (the present-day Bogor) and gradually the Sultanate of Banten took over the former Sunda kingdom's region. The Mataram Sultanate from central Java also seized the Priangan region, the southeastern part of the kingdom.

In the sixteenth century, the Dutch and the British trading companies established their trading ships in West Java after the falldown of Sultanate of Banten. For the next three hundred years, West Java fell under the Dutch East Indies' administration. West Java was officially declared as a province of Indonesia in 1950, referring to a statement from Staatblad number 378. On October 17, 2000, as part of nationwide political decentralization, Banten was separated from West Java and made into a new province.

Geography

West Java borders Jakarta and Banten province to the west, and Central Java to the east. To the north is Java Sea. To the south is the Indian Ocean. Unlike most other provinces in Indonesia which have their capitals in coastal area, the provincial capital Bandung is located in a mountainous area.

The province's landscape is one of volcanic mountains, steep terrain, forest, mountains rivers, fertile agricultural land, and natural sea harbours.

Demographics and language

According to the 2005 Socio-Economic Survey, West Java's population is 39,960,869, making it the most populous province in Indonesia. It has an area of 34,736 km²; aside from the province of Jakarta, it is the most densely populated province in the country with an average of 1,150 people per km².

In addition to Indonesian, the official national language, the other widely-spoken language in the province is Sundanese. In some areas near the southern borders with Central Java, Javanese is also spoken. The main language spoken in Cirebon and nearby areas (Majalengka, Indramayu, Sumber) is Cirebonese, a dialect of Javanese.Indonesian is widely spoken as a second language, except in some remote rural areas.

Culture

Sundanese share Java island with other Malayan people: Javanese people. They primarily live in their home province of West Java. Although Sundanese live in the same island with Javanese, they consider themselves a distinct cultural area called Sunda. Someone moving from West Java Province to Central or East Java Provinces, is literally said to be moving from Sunda to Java.

Taken from. www.wikipedia.com