National Museum

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  • Phone
    386 8172
  • Tue-Thu, Sun 8:30 - 14:30 , Fri 08:30 - 11:30 , Sat 08:30 - 01:30

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Lonely Planet review

The National Museum, built in 1862, is the best museum in Indonesia and one of the finest in Southeast Asia. It has an enormous collection of cultural objects of the various ethnic groups - costumes, musical instruments, model houses and so on - and numerous fine bronzes from the Hindu-Javanese period.

There are many interesting stone pieces salvaged from Central Javanese and other temples, and a superb display of Chinese ceramics dating back to the Han dynasty (300 BC to 220 AD), which was almost entirely amassed in Indonesia.

One of the best places to start a tour of the museum is the Treasure Room upstairs from the entrance. The gold exhibits are interesting, but if you walked to the museum the real attraction is the air-conditioning. 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).