A Visit to the National Monument in Jakarta

I always desired to visit my favourite place, which is located at my city since I had heard that it is one of the historical monuments of Jakarta. On a college holiday, I asked my friends to take me for a visit to Monas and he readily agreed. On Saturday, we went to Monas on foot from Gambir Station. Gambir Station is located east to Monas, we had to walk quite a distance to find an entrance at the southern side of Monas. After walking the long road, we decided to take a Trans Jakarta bus.

One thing that I noticed immediately was that there was a guide tour named Sir Nursamin who leads us to the National Monument (Monas) and its surrounding buildings. Before we go to the historical museum room, we were told about the history of the construction of national monuments.

Indonesia’s National Monument or Monumen Nasional, fondly called the Monas, is the most famous historical building in Jakarta. Monas is also the Independence Monument at the Heart of Indonesia’s Capital. On the other side, it might also be the only iconic monument that was built by the 1st Indonesian president, Soekarno who has always been known for his taste of the art and culture.

Historically, Monas is a towering structure built to remember the struggle of Indonesian heroes fighting for the nation’s independence. It is located at the center of Jakarta, Jl. Pelataran Merdeka, Gambir, Center Jakarta, which is surrounded by the Jakarta’s largest public square known as the Merdeka Square or Medan Merdeka.

Monas or obelisk monument is a 132 metre tower in the centre of Merdeka Square, Central Jakarta, symbolizing the fight for Indonesia. Monas is the official national monument of the Republic of Indonesia, built to commemorate and perpetuate the greatness of the struggle of the Indonesian Nation known as the Revolution of 17 August 1945. Not only Monas is as a vehicle to raise the spirit of patriotism of present and future generations, but Monas is also as a tourist attraction or the place of recreation.

Monas Monument was first designed by two Indonesian best architects named Friedrich Silaban and RM Soedarsono and began its construction on August 17th, 1961 under the command of President Seokarno. It was completed, inaugurated and opened to the public on July 12th, 1975 by President Soeharto. To date, Monas stands very solid covered with white paint on its body and gold colors that light up on its top.

Monas is topped as memorial tower by a 14.5 tons bronze Flame of Independence containing the lift engine. The base of the flame, in the shape of a goblet, is 3 metres high. The bronze flame was covered with 35 kg of gold foil. The flames are placed on the top of the monument symbolized as the spirit of the fiery Indonesian struggle. The towering form of the monument contains the philosophy of “Lingga and Yoni” which represented the unity in Indonesian history.

Monas Monument is built about the heights of the ‘fire’ and its crock on the top is 17 meters from the ground, and it is covered with gold in the basement, which is 8 meters deep and the width of the room size is 45 x 45 meters square. The inside of this wide room is decorated with twelve dioramas, which all tell stories about the fighting spirit of Indonesian heroes and people.

We knew that Monas is the largest park, which is surrounded by some statues of the national heroes as well as a vehicle free space for exercise. Especially in the morning, most locals visit Monas to jog, stroll, breath fresh air, see green landscape, play kites or simply have a family picnic.

At the exit of Monas in the night, we saw the fountain show of the Monas Tower with the colourful lights and white spotlight that shine the gold at the top make this National Monument Jakarta looked fantastic. We also enjoyed watching acrobatic stunts, kite-flying, riding tandem bikes, and exploring to Lenggang Jakarta, which consists of food stalls that sell from traditional foods and drinks, clothing vendor, accessories, souvenirs to herbal medicines.

We also went to pay a visit to Betawi Store that is located at the right side from the Lenggang Jakarta’s entry. Betawi Store was placed in a traditional Betawi house, which sells T-shirts, small pouch, snacks and traditional Betawi drink Bir Pletok with herbs and spices-based beverage with the average price of Rp 20.000 — Rp 200.000,-. After exploring Lenggang Jakarta and Betawi Store, we want to eat ice cream through going to the Ragusa Italian Ice Cream.

Monas is most easily accessible national parks, which is located at West Merdeka Square street. However, due to the government’s rule, motorcycles are not allowed to enter that street. To reach to the Monas via South Merdeka Square street, they should park their vehicle near the Lenggang Jakarta food court, which is called as IRTI Parking Area. They can also park their vehicle at Gambir Station.

Other hand, we simply take the Trans Jakarta bus, which is famously known as Busway. The landmark is accessible with Trans Jakarta, which will stop in Monas National Monument bus shelter. There are two options that we can choose to go to the Monas. If we come from Menteng, we will try the free city tour bus in Sarinah bus stop through the Sarinah mall so that the bus will arrive at the destination in only 10 minutes. Other hand, if we are on a walk in Kemang, we will take the busway with BLOK M-KOTA destination.

If we want to go to the Monas again, we will take the Trans Jakarta bus, which cost only Rp 3.500 per person. While entering the Monas, we were told that there were two different types of entrance ticket fee depending on which part of the monument that we want to explore. One for visiting the museum only and other for exploring the observation deck.

The entrance fee of cawan (grail or goblet) is Rp 2,000 for children, Rp 3.000 for college students and Rp 5.000 for adults. To reach the observation deck, one adult needs to pay Rp 15.000 and one children needs to pay Rp 4.000 for the lift. If we are college students, we should pay Rp 8.000 to reach to the top of Monas area. If we are not Jakarta citizens and didn’t own Jakarta-One card, we will have to pay an additional fee of Rp 15.000.

We were also told that the Monas were open daily from 08.00 in the morning until 3.00 in the afternoon, except for the last Monday of each month when the Monas are closed. Starting from the ticket counter, we can either visit History Museum in the basement level or climb up the stairs to Independence Room. After that, we can freely go into the monument area, such as the park and the fountain.

The first time I visited the Monas with my friends, I simply felt captivated. I found numerous local and foreign visitors pouring in. Once one approaches the building one feels lost to move away from it. Even if one has to go at last, one feels inclined to visit it again and again.