My Visual Travel Experience: Jakarta

My wife Kamalini and I spent 4 days in Jakarta in the summer of 2013, on our way back to India from Bali. A lot of people who visit Indonesia end up just visiting Bali, with its lovely beaches, beautiful Hindu temples, and amazing volcanoes, but Jakarta didn't disappoint me at all, apart from its maddening traffic jams! We stayed with some old family friends, Zafira Lateef and her husband Guy. They were staying at the luxurious Shangrila service apartments back then, and were very warm hosts. Zafira's parents are old friends of my parents, and the two families have known each other for decades. Spending time with them added a wonderful touch to our stay.

Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia and it lies on the island of Java. It is one of the world’s most populated cities, and has over 10 million inhabitants. The city was founded in the 4th century AD when it was a part of the Hindu Sundanese Kingdom. It has been an important trading port throughout its history. The Portugese arrived in 1513 and the Kingdom of Sunda allowed them to build a port in 1522. In 1527, a Javanese General, Fatahillah, attacked the city and drove out the Portugese. Dutch ships arrived in 1592. They consolidated power and in 1619 renamed the town Batavia. It became the capital of the Dutch East India Company.

During World War II, Indonesian nationalists took the help of the Japanese and drove out the Dutch, and named the town Jakarta. In 1950, Indonesia declared independence and Jakarta became its capital. Sukarno became the country’s first president and modernised the city. General Suharto took over  as President in 1965. Despite his dictatorial style, Suharto’s tenure saw a lot of development in Jakarta. It ended with the Asian economic crisis in 1998, which triggered off violence and led to Suharto’s ouster. Since then, things have stabilised and Jakarta has turned into a bustling metropolis. 

The Jakarta History Museum is also known as the Fatahillah Museum or the Batavia Museum. It’s the most striking building on Fatahillah Square, in the old town. The building dates back to 1710, when it was the town hall of Batavia. The museum was opened in 1974, and has exhibits from the prehistorical era, the Dutch period and more recent history around the time of Indonesia’s independence.

Jakarta History Museum

Furniture Section, Jakarta History Museum

Rickshaw, Jakarta History Museum

Wayang Museum is a museum dedicated to Javanese puppetry and the museum lies on Fatahillah Square, in the heart of the old town. A church initially stood at the spot where the museum lies. The church, called the Old Dutch Church, was built in 1640. In 1732, it was renovated and became the New Dutch Church. It was destroyed in an earthquake in 1808. 

Museum Wayang

Hanuman Puppet, Museum Wayang

Puppets, Museum Wayang

The Fine Art and Ceramic Museum lies on  Fatahillah Square. The building dates back to 1870, and was originally the Court of Justice.  It was later used for various other purposes, before becoming a museum in 1976.

Fine Art and Ceramic Museum

Buddha Statue, Fine Art and Ceramic Museum

Painting of Jakarta History Museum, Fine Art and Ceramic Museum

Café Batavia lies on Fatahillah Square in the old town. It is housed in a beautiful colonial building. It’s a great place to soak in the ambience of a bygone era. It has a lively bar, a café and a fine restaurant. A must-do on any traveler’s list!

Cafe Batavia

Interior, Cafe Batavia

The Maritime Museum is located in Jakarta’s harbour area. The museum is housed in a complex that used to serve as the Dutch East India Company’s warehouses. The warehouses date back to the period 1652 – 1771. Spices, coffee, clothes etc were stored here before being exported.

Maritime Museum

Model of a Ship, Maritime Museum

The National Museum is also known as the Elephant Building because of the elephant statue in front of it that was gifted by the King of Thailand. The museum was opened in 1868. In 1931, a fire destroyed many of the museum’s works during an exhibition in Paris. The current collection includes Hindu and Buddhist sculptures, ceramics, Javan puppetry, models of traditional homes and prehistoric collections. A new wing was added in 2005. 

National Museum

Courtyard, National Museum

Elephant Sculpture, National Museum

Javan Masks, National Museum

Nandi Sculpture, National Museum

Ceramic Jug, National Museum

The National Monument, also known as Monas, is a 132 meter tower, standing at Merdeka Square in the heart of Jakarta. It was inaugurated in 1975 and was commissioned by President Suharto. The structure symbolises Indonesia’s struggle for independence.  The top of the tower has a flame covered in gold foil weighing 50 kg. The obelisk of the monument is made of Italian marble. An elevator takes visitors up to the top of the tower, for great views of the city. The Monas lies within a sprawling park.

National Monument

Jakarta Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral that was consecrated in 1901. It is also called Church of Our Lady of the Assumption. The cathedral stands where the original cathedral, built in 1829, once stood. The original cathedral was destroyed in 1890. Both the original cathedral and the present one were built by the Dutch.

Jakarta Cathedral

Pieta, Jakarta Cathedral

Immanuel Church is  a protestant church and is one of Indonesia’s oldest churches, having been completed in 1839. The church was built to honour King Wilhelm I of Netherlands. The church has a circular layout.

Immanuel Church

Organ, Immanuel Church

Istiqlal Mosque is the largest mosque in southeast Asia. It was opened in 1978 and was built to commemorate Indonesia’s independence. The mosque has the capacity to hold 120,000 visitors at a time! Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim population and it was only fitting that the country should have such a grand mosque.

Istiqlal Mosque

Interior of Dome, Istiqlal Mosque

Jalan Surabaya  is a street that has a very popular flea market, where one can buy anything from wooden statues, to masks, to puppets, to jugs. It’s a great place to find antiques, works of art and a lot of miscellaneous oddities!

Jalan Surabaya

Puppets, Jalan Surabaya

Wooden Figures, Jalan Surabaya

Sea World is a large aquarium consisting of a main tank, a shark tank and other tanks. The aquarium opened in 1980. The main tank is one of the largest in Asia.

Eel at Sea World

Taman Mini Indonesia Indah is a miniature theme park on the outskirts of Jakarta, spread over 250 acres. The park depicts various aspects of Indonesia’s 26 provinces, including architecture, clothing, dances and other traditions. The theme park opened in 1975. The idea behind the theme park came from the then first lady of Indonesia, Tien Suharto. The objective was to popularize Indonesian culture and tradition.

Bali Pavilion Courtyard, 
Taman Mini Indonesia Indah

Castle of Indonesian Children, 
Taman Mini Indonesia Indah

Mosque, 
Taman Mini Indonesia Indah

Model of National Monument, 
Taman Mini Indonesia Indah

South Sulawesi Building,
Taman Mini Indonesia Indah

So Jakarta turned out to be a pleasant surprise with a large number of places that were worth visiting. The museums were particularly interesting, and our 4 days went by in a jiffy. The traffic jams were one of the worst I have seen anywhere in the world, but other than that, it was a very good visit!

My Visual Travel Experience: Bangalore

From 1996 to 2011, Bangalore was a very important part of my life, first during my corporate stint with Britannia, and subsequently during my time with Nokia. In fact, from 1999 to 2002, I lived in Bangalore, so the city has been almost like a second home to a Delhi boy like me. I have a large circle of family and friends in Bangalore, and that's one reason I still feel quite at home there.

In the summer of 2018, I made a trip to the city after many years. I stayed with my very close friend, Barun, and he was amazingly hospitable - he opened up his home to me, and arranged for a car to be at my disposal, which allowed me to be mobile and cover the long list of things on my agenda (which included re-visiting the city's sites and meeting family and friends). Bangalore has grown beyond recognition, and the city's traffic jams are legendary, but I still really enjoyed the city's buzz, and I was glad to see that the city authorities have done a good job with developing infrastructure (in terms of condominiums, highways, flyovers, malls, and a world class metro system). The city's moderate weather reminded me why I enjoyed my time there so much.

Bangalore, now called Bengaluru, has a population of 8.5 million (2011 census) and is the capital of the Southern Indian state of Karnataka. The city is also referred to as the Garden City of India because of the presence of large city parks like Lalbagh Botanical Garden and Cubbon Park. In recent years, it has been called the Silicon Valley of India, because of the booming IT industry.

Bangalore was established by Kempe Gowda, a ruler of the Vijayanagara Empire, in 1537, when he built a mud brick fort. In 1638, the Marathas took over the city and ruled for close to 150 years. Subsequently, the Mughals took over, and they sold the kingdom to the Mysore Kingdom of the Wodeyar Dynasty. In 1799, the British took over the city, but returned it to the Maharaja of Mysore. In 1947, Bangalore became the capital of Mysore State, and continued as the state capital after the formation of Karnataka in 1956.

Lalbagh Botanical Garden was commissioned by Hyder Ali in 1760 but completed by his son Tipu Sultan. The garden is spread over an area of 240 acres. The garden has four gates, and the main gate is the northern gate. The garden’s highlights include a Floral Clock, a statue of Chamarajendra Wodeyar, the Band Stand, Lalbagh Fountain, the Glass House, the Kempe Gowda Tower, the Bonsai  Park, a tree fossil, the Topiary Garden and Lalbagh Lake. 

Lalbagh Fountain and Glass House,
Lalbagh Botanical Garden

Band Stand, Lalbagh Botanical Garden

Floral Clock, Lalbagh Botanical Garden

The Glass House dates back to 1889 and was modeled along the lines of London’s Crystal Palace. It was built to commemorate the visit to India by England’s Prince Albert. During Republic Day (26th January) and Independence Day (15th August), the Glass House plays host to a well known flower show

Chamarajendra Wodeyar Statue, Lalbagh Botanical Garden

Kempe Gowda Tower, Lalbagh Botanical Garden

Nandi Statue, Lalbagh Botanical Garden

Cubbon Park is a large park in the heart of Bangalore, and covers an area of 300 acres. The park dates back to 1870. The Karnataka High Court lies close to the park, as does the Vidhan Soudha. Other highlights of the park are the impressive State Central Library (built in 1915) and statues of Queen Victoria, King Edward VII and Chamarajendra Wodeyar. The Government Museum, the Venkatappa Art Gallery and the Visveswaraya  Technology Museum lie at one end of the park. 

State Central Library,
Cubbon Park

Queen Victoria Statue,
Cubbon Park

Overview, Cubbon Park

Vidhan Soudha is the seat of the Karnataka state legislature. The imposing building was built in 1956. Vidhan Soudha lies opposite Karnataka High Court, which is at one end of Cubbon Park. There is a statue of B R Ambedkar outside Vidhan Soudha, and the central dome  has the state emblem of India, the Lion Capital of Ashoka.

Vidhan Soudha

Karnataka High Court, also known as Attara Kacheri, lies to one side of Cubbon Park, and is housed inside a grand red brick building dating back to the British era.

Karnataka High Court

Bangalore Palace was completed in 1878 and was built for Chamarajendra Wodeyar, who was then a minor. The palace grounds cover an area of over 450 acres. The palace boasts of the Grand Staircase, the Durbar Hall, the maharaja’s office, a beautiful central courtyard, replicas of some well known European paintings, and portraits and photographs of the royal family. 

Bangalore Palace

Cannon, Bangalore Palace

Corridor, Bangalore Palace

The palace was designed along the lines of England’s Windsor Castle, in the Tudor architectural style. The palace grounds have hosted several rock concerts by popular international bands and performers like Iron Maiden, Aerosmith, David Guetta, Elton John, Deep Purple, Black Eyed Peas, Rolling Stones and Metallica.

Courtyard, Bangalore Palace

Grand Staircase, Bangalore Palace

Chandelier in Maharaja's Office,
Bangalore Palace

Tipu Sultan’s Summer Palace was started by Tipu Sultan’s father, Haider Ali and completed by Tipu Sultan in 1791. After Tipu Sultan’s death, the palace was used by the British as their secretariat before moving to Attara Kacheri. The building is made of wood, and has numerous pillars and arches.

Tipu Sultan's Summer Palace

Interior, Tipu Sultan's Summer Palace

Sri Big Bull Temple was built in 1537 by Kempe Gowda, the founder of Bangalore. The temple houses a large monolithic Nandi statue, that is black in colour due to years of rubbing charcoal and oil. The large statue has a height of 4.6 meters (15 feet) and a length of 6.1 meters (20 feet). The temple’s tower (vimana) has intricate sculptures.

Sri Big Bull Temple

Sri Venkataramana Swamy Temple is situated right next to Tipu Sultan’s Summer Palace. The temple was built in 1689. The temple has some intricate decorative work with sculptures of deities along its towers.

Sri Venkataramana Swamy Temple

Vishnu sculpture, Sri Venkataramana Swamy Temple

Shivoham Shiva Temple was built in 1995 and lies on Old Airport Road. The huge idol is 65 feet tall. Behind the idol, there is a cave that has replicas of lingas from various pilgrimage spots like Amarnath, Badrinath and Kedarnath.

Shivoham Shiva Temple

Mahatma Gandhi Park lies on M G Road in the heart of Bangalore. The park has several sculptures of Mahatma Gandhi.

Mahatma Gandhi Park

Gandhi Meditating,
Mahatma Gandhi Park

St Mark’s Cathedral dates back to 1808. It lies within a large, green area along MG Road.

St Mark's Cathedral

Stain glass panel of The Annunciation,
St Mark's Cathedral

ISKCON Temple was inaugurated in 1997 and is one of the largest ISKCON temples in the world. The temple is situated on Hare Krishna Hill. Like other ISKCON temples around the world, the purpose of this temple is to propagate Krishna Consciousness, as explained by Swami Prabhupada, the founder of the movement.

ISKCON Temple

Gold plated Shikara, ISKCON Temple

The temple has multiple shrines (the main one being drvoted to Radha-Krishna), a 17 meter high gold plated flagpole and an 8.5 meter tall gold plated shikara. During darshan hours, free prasad is distributed to pilgrims.

Painting of Swami Prabhupada, ISKCON Temple

Sculpture of Swami Prabhupada, ISKCON Temple

UB City is a luxury commercial space built by the UB Group in collaboration with the Prestige Group. The complex has service apartments, retail space and commercial space, and consists of 4 towers, the tallest of which stands at a height of 123 meters. The complex was completed in 2008.

UB City

The Government Museum was set up in 1865. The museum, which lies right outside Cubbon Park, has exhibits including stone sculptures dating back to as far back as the 10th century AD, weapons, archaeological finds from the neolithic period and miniature paintings. Behind the museum, there is also a sculpture garden.

Government Museum

Ganesha Idol, Government Museum

Sculpture Garden, Government Museum

Visveswaraya Industrial and Technological Museum lies beside the Government Museum. It was established in the memory of Bharat Ratna Sir M Visvesweraya in 1962.  The museum’s exhibits include a dinosaur model, a model of the Wright Brothers’ plane, engines, space technology and science for children.

Dinosaur Model,
Visverwaraya Industrial and Technological Museum

Model of Wright Brothers' Plane,
Visverwaraya Industrial and Technological Museum

Venkatappa Art Gallery lies next to the Government Museum. The museum holds the works of K Venkatappa (1886-1965), a famous Karnataka artist. The museum holds temporary exhibitions, but it also has the works of the sculptor Rajaram and the painter K K Hebbar.

Bangalore has a large number of well known eateries. Mavalli Tiffin Rooms (MTR) is a famous eatery outside Lalbagh Botanical Garden. It is well known for its South Indian snacks like idlis, dosas and vadas, as well as its thalis, which serve a variety of vegetarian South Indian dishes. Coconut Grove on Church Road is known for its South Indian coastal cuisine, including its appams and stews. Tandoor on MG Road is a favourite for people who like tandoori cuisines from northern India. Gongura's is famous for its biryanis.

Rava Idli at Mavalli Tiffin Rooms

In recent years, a large number of very large malls have sprung up all over Bangalore. These malls are very popular and feature multiplexes, retail outlets, food courts and fine dining options. Garuda Mall on Magrath Road, Bangalore Central Mall on Field Marshall Cariappa Road, Forum Mall in Koramangala, Forum Neighbourhood Mall in Whitefield and Orion Mall in Malleswaram are among the city's more popular malls.

Forum Neighbourhood Mall

The town of Shravanabelagola lies around 140 km west of Bangalore. The small town is famous for its Gommateshwara Bahubali Statue. It is a 17 meter high monolithic statue of the Jain saint that was built in 983 AD. To get to it, one has to climb over 700 steps. From the summit, there is a tremendous view of the town and the surrounding hills. Once in 12 years, the statue is bathed in milk, ghee and sugarcane juice. The status is one of the country's most important Jain pilgrimage sites. 

Gommateshwara Bahubali Statue, Shravanabelagola

Bangalore is one of my favourite cities in India, despite its maddening traffic. Bangalore International Airport is a great gateway to the city and sets the mood right because it is an impressive airport indeed. There is a bit for everyone to do in this metropolis, whether it is history buffs, shopaholics, food lovers, or nature lovers. It may not have the kind of history and architecture that other Indian cities like Delhi, Agra and Jaipur have, but there's still enough and more for people interested in history. Well worth  visit! And the moderate weather is a real icing on the cake!