Flashback Journey of Singhasari Kingdom (1)

September 2010 on Idul Fitri holiday, my family and I did a simple flashback vacation.

It was the idea of my father to go to the traces of Singosari Kingdom. Singosari (or Singhasari) itself was a glorious kingdom in East Java in 13th century. The center of the kingdom was in the area which is now known as Kabupaten Malang.

My father thought that this journey is important for us -his daughters- since he named us "Prajna", inspired by the ancestor's name of Singhasari: Prajna Paramita or Ken Dedes.


As the beginning of the journey, we visited Petilasan Dedes. Petilasan means important place which were used by significant figure of history to do a significant things closely related to history. Petilasan Dedes was the place where Ken Arok firstly met Ken Dedes. Since Ken Arok was the founder of Singhasari, and Ken Dedes was his first wife, and their complicated relationship has had influenced every single stage of the kingdom's history, people decided to cite the place as a petilasan.

Petilasan Dedes is located at Panawijen, Blimbing, the north side of Kota Malang (not Kabupaten). Finding the place wasn't difficult. Just ask the people aroung, and they'll show you the direction. We parked our car on the road side then walked across an ancient graveyard and rice farms before getting to the place.

I was so happy and proud to be there, a small area (about 7x7 meters) with stone fence around and a small pendopo inside (3x3 meters). There were four large trees around the pendopo that keep the place shaded, calm, and cool. I found a small wooden sign: Petilasan Dedes, written with a low quality paint. Below the sign, there was a "small house" which looked like a tiny dog kennel to place sesajen (offerings) for the ancestors. A big paint of a young woman (later discovered as ken Dedes) sitting on the side of a river to fetch water was hung on the east side of the pendopo. Green and fertile rice farms surrounded the place. It was a quiet and clean place.

There we met two old persons who were the guardian of the place. They told us about the history of the place and how the people around fight for the place to survive. Petilasan Dedes has been declared as an historical site by the government (Culture and Tourism Department of Kabupaten Malang). Unfortunately, the government does not provide any support in addition to giving nameplate. Daily care of the place are managed by the people of Panawijen themselves by collecting money for restoring, reparation, and cleaning services.

find more pictures on my flickr

*next: Candi Sumberawan (Sumberawan Temple)


-ema