It never occurred to me at all that at around the not so busy street close to Rawamangun there's Prince Jayakarta Tomb which has a closeness to the city of Jakarta's history. It took over 23 years to get the enlightenment about this place, since I started living in Jakarta. I believe that you have ever had or will ever have an experience like that.
One of the reasons perhaps that the location of the Prince Jayakarta Tomb was hidden inside the complex of Jatinegara Kaum Assalafiyah Mosque and hence it was not that visible. Moreover the tomb landmark was also not conspicuous. Another cause was because most of the time sit behind the wheel, which makes the eyes should be more focus on the road.
Sights on the cupola where the Prince Jayakarta Tomb was laid. The cupola location of Prince Jayakarta Jayakarta Tomb was situated just a few meters from the street, under a very shady giant banyan tree. There was parking space available for motorcycles, in the front yard of the mosque, but cars must be parked on roadsides.
It was Fatahillah who changed the name of Sunda Kelapa to Jayakarta on June 22, 1572, after taking over this busy city port from Pajajaran Kingdom and then beat and expelled the Portuguese colonial army. Fatahillah then handed it over to his son in law, namely Tubagus Angke who came from Banten noble family, to govern Jayakarta.
Prince Jayakarta expelled Jan Pieterszoon Coen and his VOC army from Jayakarta in a trade dispute that began in 1610, but Coen returned to Jayakarta backed up by soldiers from Ambon and beat Pangeran Jayakarta in 1619. Coen renamed Jayakarta to Batavia. Japanese occupation forces subsequently changed the name of the city to Jakarta.
The area in the Assalafiyah Mosque complex where the cupola of Prince Jayakarta Tomb stood, shaded by the leafy banyan tree which size was truly enormous. For me it's really amazing to find out that the huge and very old tree was still survive in the harsh urban and not friendly environment such as Jakarta for a tree with this size.
At the left side of the tree there's Jakarta Military District emblem, written "Jayakarta" with 24 wings and a coconut tree symbol, as well as an inscription signed by Jakarta Military Commander as remembrance for Prince Jayakarta's struggle. A pilgrim prayed solemnly at the prince tomb. There were several tombs, each with porcelain on it.
A pilgrim man was seen solemnly prayed in front of the Tomb of Prince Jayakarta. A grave of respected person, for some people, is also a place to whisper all pressing problems of life, which can not be easily shared to others, even to closest friends.
There are several tombs inside cupola of the building, and a porcelain jar is placed on each of the graves. It's not clear as to what the function of the jars are. They might serve as containers for holy water to be poured on the graves, or might serve as charity boxes. When people visit places like this to get blessing, they are willing to donate money.
View of the Prince Jayakarta Tomb with tombstone flanked by two pieces of jars with different shapes and colors that looked quite beautiful. The middle part of his tomb filled with flowers left by pilgrims who came before. What unique is the presence of several cigarettes placed on the body of the tomb, one of which had been burned.
While the tombstone at the head part of the grave still seemed intact, but the tombstone at the foot part unfortunately had been broken on its left wing. On the gravestone it says "Prince Ahmad Djaketra". It is said that the Prince Jayakarta Tomb had been hidden for over three hundred years, fearing it would be destroyed by the Dutch.
After visiting the Prince Jayakarta Tomb, I stopped by for a few minutes to see the interior of Assalafiah Mosque, which is also known as Prince Jayakarta Mosque, located just beside the prince's grave. The mosque was established in 1620. There was a mosque drum, commonly beaten five times a day to mark the start time of prayer.
The address of Prince Jayakarta Tomb is at Jl. Jatinegara Kaum, East Jakarta. GPS Location: -6.202088, 106.900814, Waze
Label: East Jakarta, Jakarta, Tomb, Travel
Bagikan ke: WhatsApp, Email. Print!.
