Old Building

Until now, the city of Yogyakarta still bears the title of a city of culture with the Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat Sultanate Palace as a symbol of maintaining Javanese culture. The Sonobudoyo Museum as an "alley" for tracing traditions and culture has become a magnet in uncovering the cultural traditions of people's lives (including Javanese society) from a time before writing was known (prehistory) to a time when there was high civilization. The Sonobudoyo Museum was founded by the Java Institute, namely the Java, Bali, Lombok and Madura Cultural Foundations during the colonial period whose members consisted of foreigners and natives. The planning committee for the establishment of the museum was formed in 1931 with members including: Ir. Th. Karsten, P.H.W. Sitsen, and Koeperberg. The museum building uses former Shouten land as a gift from Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwana VIII and its construction is marked with the candrasengkala memet "Buta Ngrasa Hesthining Lata" ie 1865 Java (1934 AD), engraved on the tebeng which is located at the top of the main gate of Ndalem Ageng. While the inauguration was carried out by Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwana VIII on Wednesday Wage, 9 Ruwah Jawa (6 November 1935 AD) marked with the candrasengkala memet "Wood Winayang ing Brahmin Buddha", engraved on the regol (gapura) wall of the Sonobudoyo Museum.
Various collections in the museum are the result of research by the Java Institute. It is not surprising that the collection of the Sonobudoyo Museum can reflect the sequence of cultural processes that took place in Java, Bali, Lombok and Madura. Collections from the prehistoric period since the emergence of ancient humans in Java with a cultural level in the form of stone axes until the time when metal and religion were known were reflected in the remains in the form of artifacts which are in the collection of the Sonobudoyo Museum.
There is no need to hesitate to immediately visit the Sonobudoyo Museum which is located at Jalan Pangurakan (Trikora) 6 Yogyakarta, to the north of the Yogyakarta palace. Various kinds of cultural heritage objects totaling 62,661 pieces, covering collections of geology, biology, ethnography, archeology, history, numismatics, philology, keramology, fine arts, technology, and various weapons will complement the search to uncover the history of cultural traditions. Various collections of the Sonobudoyo Museum can be explored through the Introduction Room, Prehistoric Room, Classical Room, Islamic Room, Batik Room, Puppet Room, Mask Room, Central Java Room, Metal Room, Weapons Room, Children's Games Room, and Bali Room.