Museum Nasional
Good for: History & general students.
- Address
- JI Merdeka Barat City Centre
- Price
- adult/child Rp750/Rp250
- Hours
- 08:30-14:30 Tue-Thu & Sun, 08:30-11:30 Fri, 08:30-11:30 Sat
Lonely Planet review for Museum Nasional
On the western side of Merdeka Sq, the Museum Nasional, built in 1862, is the best of its kind in Indonesia and one of the finest in Southeast Asia. It has an enormous collection of cultural objects of the various ethnic groups around the country - costumes, musical instruments, model houses and so on - and numerous fine bronzes from the Hindu-Javanese period, as well as many interesting stone pieces salvaged from the Central Javanese and other temples.
There's also a superb display of Chinese ceramics dating back to the Han dynasty (300 BC to AD 220), which was almost entirely amassed in Indonesia.
Just outside the museum is a bronze elephant that was presented by the King of Thailand in 1871; thus the museum building is popularly known as the Gedung Gajah (Elephant House). Next door is the museum's sleek new building, used for temporary exhibitions; entry is included in the admission fee.
The Indonesian Heritage Society (5725870) organises free English tours of the National Museum at 09:30 every Tuesday and Thursday and 10:30 every second Saturday and last Sunday in the month; French tours take place at 09:30 every third Wednesday of the month.
Traveller reviews for Museum Nasional (4)
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amazing translations of historical artifacts
sometimesiamnotme recommends this,
For being the national museum, it is lacking. However, it is a good overview of the regional cultures with artifacts from across Indonesia. The new museum is currently being developed, but seems a bit lacking. This is made up by the large number of items within the old museum. Particularly in the new museum there are some amazing examples of mistranslation or complete misunderstanding of the english language which should not occur in a national museum, however, it adds a degree of humor to the visit! Definitely worth a trip.
Good for: History & general students.
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I think it's a great museum! I spent hours in there.
kellywatchthestars recommends this,
I especially liked the sections on the different ethnic groups of Indonesia (and there are many!) It's also a nice, cool, slightly dark hideaway from the heat and traffic outside. And yes there are guided Heritage society tours in English. details in the guidebook i think.
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Take the tour
andyran recommends this,
This is an absolutely fantastic building, with extremely interesting and fascinating artefacts from all over the indonesian archepelago. I would definately recommend participating in the free english tours from the Indonesian Heritigage society, our guide walked us through the museum with a clear understanding and knowledge of the artefacts and history of Indonesia. She provided us with an excellent tour that was extremely engaging, informative and at times humorous as she relayed stories about both famous and obscure tribes, ceremonial artefacts and Indonesian celebrities. I would definately recommend this as a highlight of the holiday and after visiting I felt I knew a great deal more about Indonesian history and culture and since returning I have continued my own research inot this fascinating country.
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Not the best way to spend your time
flavorsoflife does not recommend this,
Even though the collection of Hindu statues is vast and the gallery on the Indonesian Islands with artefacts from around the archipelago is interesting, the display is not self-explanatory and you'll get bored after few minutes to look at all that objects. You won’t leave the museum knowing much more than you already knew about Indonesia before your visit. So what's the point, right? A guided tour may be a better option, I haven't tried...
