Keraton Palace

Keraton Palace

The sultan of Jogja still has some amount of sovereign power in his sultanat, and the current sultan is the 10th in reign. The sign below says 'Keraton' in Javanese.

Bahasa Java

There are three versions of the Javanese language. The 'highest form', which is only used in and around the palace and amongst royalty; the formal version, which is used amongst groups of varying ages; and the informal version, which is used among people of the same age. The language does not even remotely resemble the Indonesian language (Bahasa Indonesia), and would be pretty difficult to master.

Throw on top the different character set, and you'd have a pretty serious challenge at hand. To the untrained eye, the characters seem like Sanskrit, but I was assured today that this is Javanese, not Sanskrit.

Gamelan (music instrument)

Gamelan music originated out of Jogja, but then spread across Java. Performance are held at the palace, including dance performances, but not during the Ramadan (which we're in the midst of right now).