Taman Sriwedari was built by King Pakubuwono X and ever had a function as a folk amusement park, but now the city goverment of Surakarta (Solo) has decided to convert it to a "Great Mosque".
Taman Sriwedari (Sriwedari Park) which is located on jalan Slamet Riyadi, Surakarta, Central Java, used to be a place to hold "Malem Selikuran" ceremony. It is an annual tradition of "Keraton Kasunanan Surakarta Hadiningrat" (a Javanese monarchy centred in the city of Surakarta) and local people to welcome the eve of "Lailatul Qadar" in the month of "Ramadan" (Islamic Holy Month). And there is a big "Rumah Joglo" (traditional Javanese house) providing a regular entertainment stage of traditional dance performances and some music groups with a various genres, such as "campursari", "dangdut", "keroncong", "pop" and "slow rock". As a result, many local musicians were born from this stage as well as several music fan clubs.
In addition, within the park, there were some rides for children, dexterity rides, some typical local dishes, and some souvenir shops which sold many kinds of handicrafts.
When I arrived at "Taman Sriwedari", after visiting "Keris Museum", the ground was still wet as it had been raining. In front of the gateway there are two big trees, I'm not sure because at that time I didn't really pay attention, but they look like banyan trees, common trees found in "alun-alun" (city square) as a source of shade. They are quite old that make the surrounding looks beautiful and during sunny days they can be shelter and filter the air pollution from the busy Slamet Riyadi street. I also saw three girls standing near one of banyan trees and they seemed enjoy their time.
While on the right side, where I was at that time, there is a row of concrete benches below a well designed shady decorative bamboo plants. I would have sat on one of them if it hadn't been wet.
Inside "Taman Sriwedari", I saw a car and some motorcycles were parking while the owners were inside "Rumah Joglo", some were talking, having food, while the others were doing nothing. In my opinion it was similar with a resting place, although the floor was dirty at the moment, however, this traditional Javanese house had been used around 30 years as a venue for staging of numerous traditional Javanese dances and authentic Indonesian music shows.
In addition, within the park, there were some rides for children, dexterity rides, some typical local dishes, and some souvenir shops which sold many kinds of handicrafts.
When I arrived at "Taman Sriwedari", after visiting "Keris Museum", the ground was still wet as it had been raining. In front of the gateway there are two big trees, I'm not sure because at that time I didn't really pay attention, but they look like banyan trees, common trees found in "alun-alun" (city square) as a source of shade. They are quite old that make the surrounding looks beautiful and during sunny days they can be shelter and filter the air pollution from the busy Slamet Riyadi street. I also saw three girls standing near one of banyan trees and they seemed enjoy their time.
While on the right side, where I was at that time, there is a row of concrete benches below a well designed shady decorative bamboo plants. I would have sat on one of them if it hadn't been wet.
Inside "Taman Sriwedari", I saw a car and some motorcycles were parking while the owners were inside "Rumah Joglo", some were talking, having food, while the others were doing nothing. In my opinion it was similar with a resting place, although the floor was dirty at the moment, however, this traditional Javanese house had been used around 30 years as a venue for staging of numerous traditional Javanese dances and authentic Indonesian music shows.
Before being torn down in order to fit with the architectural design of "Great Mosque" which is projected as a new tourist destination in the city of "Solo". - "Taman Sriwedari", which used to be called as "Bon Raja" or King Park will always abide in my memory.