Sunday, May 22, 2011 me and my friend, Fatria, visited the National Museum or people used to call it an ‘Elephant Museum’ because there is a bronze elephant statue gift from King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) from Thailand who've been to the museum in 1871, in front of the museum. Sometimes the museum is also called "Sculpture Building" since the building was stored in various types and forms of the sculptures from different historical periods. The National Museum is located in central Jakarta, precisely at Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat no. 12. I deliberately chose the National Museum collection because I think there are so many diverse collection, so I can select an object that I love to be discussed here. This is the third time I visited the National Museum. We arrived at the National Museum at 12.00. We were assisted by a guide who will explain to us about National’s museum collection. So far the National Museum has a collection of historic objects in the hundreds of thousands, made up of seven types of collections, ie prehistoric, archaeological, ceramics, numismatic, heraldry, history, ethnography and geography. First, we entered the exhibit hall statues. This room is right in front of the museum entrance. Inside are sculptures and statues of gods embodiment of Hindu-Buddhist. Our guide explained some of the famous statue of the collection at the National Museum. In the middle there are the statues which were divided based on where the statue was found. On the left side there are statues that came from Central Java and the right side placed the statues of East Java. Differences based on the original statue can be seen from the form of sculpture carving. The Statue of East Java is more detailed than Central Java. After that we were guided into the pre-history exhibition space located at the rear of the museum. Our guide told us the story about human life in pre-history. Difficulty in finding a place to live, food, etc. Next we returned to the front of the museum to the era of colonial space. There are objects such as various types of weapons used at the time Indonesia was colonized by Dutch, Portuguese's inscriptions, ancient wooden furniture that more powerful than now, etc. After we finished look around, we headed into the last room. I visited the golden treasure chamber. In this room there is a collection of historic objects royal relics made of gold that ever existed in Indonesia. Gold treasure chamber is divided into two rooms, namely space and space arkeolohgi ethnography. In this room we see more than 200 pieces of historic objects made of gold and silver. In the ethnography section we see objects that are made 14-24 karat gold and decorated with many precious stones. Many objects in this room are discovered by accident, not by archaeologists. As I look around, we were told from the beginning of the origin of the objects one by one until the story when a collection of objects that have been stolen by a man named Kusni Kadut. We greatly admire the collection of objects contained in this room. My impression is very good against the National Museum. I am very interested in the collections at the National Museum. The most I like about this museum is the gold room. I really admire the jewellery that made of gold. The collection is very nice to show to visitors. Formerly I was not so keen to want to know what is in the National Museum and the history because of my visit was not previously described as detailed as my visit this time. I think the history mediocre even boring, it was very interesting. I see interesting stories that described by museum guides. My curiosity increased every guide told me about anything. I also better understand more clearly about the history of Indonesia. It's not boring at all to know the history of Indonesia from pre-history to the colonial period. What I like more is the visitors. Apparently there are still many parents who bring their children for a vacation in the museum, which uses time not only playing at the mall, but to the museum to make it more useful. Not only local visitors, the day when I visited there many tourists who visit to see the collection of relics that exist in Indonesia. The atmosphere at the National Museum at that time was crowded. Overall I give a positive response to the National Museum.
From some of the collections of the National Museum I chose the statue of a major hindu deity, Shiva, as my historical project.
Shiva is the god of the yogis, self-controlled and celibate, while at the same time a lover of his spouse (Shakti). Lord Shiva is the destroyer of the world, following Brahma the creator and Vishnu the preserver, after which Brahma again creates the world and so on. Shiva is responsible for change both in the form of death and destruction and in the positive sense of destroying the egom the false indetification with the form. This also includes the shedding of old habits and attachments. All that has a beginning by necessity must have an end. In destruction, truly nothing is destroyed but the illusion of individuality. Thus the power of destruction associated with Lord Shiva has great purifying power, both on a more personal level when problems make us see reality more clearly, as on a more universal level. Destruction opens the path for a new creation of the universe, a new opportunity for the beauty and drama of universal illusion to unfold. As Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram or Truth, Goodness and Beauty, Shiva represents the most essential goodness. While of course many hindu deities are associated with different paths of yoga and meditation, in Shiva the art of meditation takes its most absolute form. In meditation, not only mind is stopped, everything is dropped. In deep meditation or Samadhi, even the object of meditation (like a mantra) is transformed into its formless essence, which is the essence of everything and everyone. Thus Shiva stands for letting go of everything in the world of forms. The part of Lord Shiva is the path of ascetic yogi. Shiva wears a deer in the left upper hand. He has a Trident in the right lower arm, with a crescent moon on his head. He is said to be fair like camphor or like an ice clad mountain. He has fire and Damaru and Malu or a kind of weapon. He wears five serpents as ornaments. He wears a garland of skulls. He is pressing with his feet the demon Muyalaka, a dwarf holding a cobra. He faces south. Panchakshara itself is his body. Shiva is often depicted with a third eye, with which he burned Desire to ashes, called "Tryambakam" which occurs in many scriptural sources. In classical Sanskrit, the word ambaka denotes "an eye", and in the Mahabharata, Shiva is depicted as three-eyed, so this name is sometimes translated as "having three eyes". However, in Vedic Sanskrit, the word amba or ambika means "mother", and this early meaning of the word is the basis for the translation "three mothers". These three mother-goddesses who are collectively called the Ambikas. Other related translations have been based on the idea that the name actually refers to the oblations given to Rudra, which according to some traditions were shared with the goddess Ambikā. Shiva bears on his head the crescent moon. The epithet Chandraśekhara refers to this feature. The placement of the moon on his head as a standard iconographic feature dates to the period when Rudra rose to prominence and became the major deity Rudra-Shiva. The origin of this linkage may be due to the identification of the moon with Soma, and there is a hymn in the Rig Veda where Soma and Rudra are jointly implored, and in later literature, Soma and Rudra came to be identified with one another, as were Soma and the moon. The crescent moon is shown on the side of the Lord's head as an ornament. The waxing and waning phenomenon of the moon symbolizes the time cycle through which creation evolves from the beginning to the end. Since the Lord is the Eternal Reality, He is beyond time. Thus, the crescent moon is only one of His ornaments. The wearing of the crescent moon in his head indicates that He has controlled the mind perfectly. Shiva smears his body with ashes (bhasma). Some forms of Shiva, such as Bhairava, are associated with a very old Indian tradition of cremation-ground asceticism that was practiced by some groups who were outside the fold of brahmanic orthodoxy. These practices associated with cremation grounds are also mentioned in the Pali canon of Theravada Buddhism. One epithet for Shiva is "inhabitant of the cremation ground". Shiva's distinctive hair style is noted in the epithets Jaṭin, "the one with matted hair", and Kapardin, "endowed with matted hair" or "wearing his hair wound in a braid in a shell-like (kaparda) fashion". A kaparda is a cowrie shell, or a braid of hair in the form of a shell, or, more generally, hair that is shaggy or curly. His hair is said to be like molten gold in color or being yellowish-white. The Ganga river flows from the matted hair of Shiva. The epithet Gangadhara refers to this feature. The Ganga (Ganga), one of the major rivers of the country, is said to have made her abode in Shiva's hair. The flow of the Ganga also represents the nectar of immortality. He is often shown seated upon a tiger skin, an honour reserved for the most accomplished of Hindu ascetics, the Brahmarishis. Tiger represents lust. His sitting on the tiger’s skin indicates that He has conquered lust. Shiva is often shown garlanded with a snake. His wearing of serpents on the neck denotes wisdom and eternity. His holding deer on one hand indicates that He has removed the Chanchalata (tossing) of the mind. Deer jumps from one place to another swiftly. The mind also jumps from one object to another. Shiva's particular weapon is the trident. His Trisul that is held in His right hand represents the three Gunas—Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. That is the emblem of sovereignty. He rules the world through these three Gunas. The Damaru in His left hand represents the Sabda Brahman. It is He who formed the Sanskrit language out of the Damaru sound. A small drum shaped like an hourglass is known as a damaru. This is one of the attributes of Shiva in his famous dancing representation known as Nataraja. A specific hand gesture (mudra) called damaru-hasta is used to hold the drum. This drum is particularly used as an emblem by members of the Kapalika. Nandi, also known as Nandin, is the name of the bull that serves as Shiva's mount. Shiva's association with cattle is reflected in his name Paśupati, or Pashupati, translated by Sharma as "lord of cattle" and by Kramrisch as "lord of animals", who notes that it is particularly used as an epithet of Rudra. Rishabha or the bull represents Dharma Devata. Lord Siva rides on the bull. Bull is his vehicle. This denotes that Lord Siva is the protector of Dharma, is an embodiment of Dharma or righteousness.
The Ganas are attendants of Shiva and live in Kailash. They are often referred to as the bhutaganas, or ghostly hosts, on account of their nature. Generally benign, except when their lord is transgressed against, they are often invoked to intercede with the lord on behalf of the devotee. Ganesha was chosen as their leader by Shiva, hence Ganesha's title gana-isa or gana-pati, "lord of the ganas". Varanasi (Benares) is considered as the city specially loved by Shiva, and is one of the holiest places of pilgrimage in India. It is referred to, in religious contexts, as Kashi.
