History and Origins of the Construction of Monas [National Monument].
Monas [National Monument ] – This monument is located right in the Center of Jakarta. Monas Monument is a monument of pride for the Indonesian nation, apart from that Monas is also a center of tourist attractions and an attractive educational center for Indonesians both in Jakarta and outside Jakarta. The purpose of building the National Monument is to commemorate and perpetuate the greatness of the Indonesian nation's struggle known as the August 17, 1945 Revolution, and also as a vehicle to awaken the spirit of patriotism for present and future generations.
Construction of Monas began in August 1959. The entire Monas building was designed by Indonesian architects, namely Soedarsono, Frederich Silaban and Ir. Rooseno. On August 17, 1961, Monas was inaugurated by President Soekarno. And it was opened to the public on July 12, 1975.
Monas Monument has its own characteristics, because its architecture and dimensions symbolize the uniqueness of Indonesia. The most prominent form is the towering monument and the wide, flat courtyard of the cup. Above the monument there is a fire burning as if it will never go out, symbolizing the exemplary spirit of the Indonesian people who have never subsided in their struggle of all time.
The very attractive shape and layout of Monas allows visitors to enjoy the enchanting beautiful and cool scenery, in the form of a garden where there are trees from various provinces in Indonesia. The fountain pool right at the entrance hall makes the garden cooler, coupled with the charm of the swaying fountain.
Near the entrance to the Monas courtyard, it also looks magnificent, standing a statue of Prince Diponegoro riding a horse. The statue which is made of bronze weighing 8 tons was done by an Italian sculptor, Prof. Coberlato as a donation by the Consulate General of Honors, Dr. Mario in Indonesia.
Monas Development Idea
The initial idea to build Monas emerged nine years after independence was proclaimed. A few days after the commemoration of the 9th anniversary of the Republic of Indonesia, a National Monument Committee was formed whose task was to work on the establishment of the Monas Monument. This committee was led by Sarwoko Martokusumo, S Suhud as writer, Sumali Prawirosudirdjo as treasurer and assisted by four members, Supeno, KK Wiloto, EF Wenas, and Sudiro.
With this competition, it is hoped that the shape of the monument that will be built can really show the personality of the Indonesian nation in three dimensions, not flat, a monument that soars high into the sky, made of concrete and iron and marble that is earthquake resistant, withstands criticism of the times for at least a thousand years and can produce cultural works that evoke a spirit of heroism.
By the Yuri Team, the message of hope was used as an assessment criterion which was then broken down into five criteria including having to comply with what is called National, describing dynamics and containing Indonesian personality and reflecting the ideals of the nation, symbolizing and depicting "a blazing fire" in the chest the Indonesian nation, describes things that actually move even though they are composed of inanimate objects, and monuments must be built from objects that do not change quickly and last for centuries.
However, the two times the contest was held, no design met all the criteria set by the committee. Finally, the leader of the Yuri Team appointed several well-known architects namely Soedarsono and Ir F Silaban to draw plans for the Monas monument. The two architects agreed to make their own drawings which were then submitted to the chairman of the Yuri Team (President Soekarno), and the chairman
chose the image made by Soedarsono.
In his draft, Soedarsono put forward a rationale that accommodated the committee's wishes. The rationale for this includes national criteria. Soedarsono took several elements from the Proclamation of Independence of the Republic of Indonesia which created a national revolution wherever possible and applied them to the architectural dimensions, namely the numbers 17, 8 and 45 as the sacred numbers of Proclamation Day.
The shape of the towering monument contains the philosophy of "Lingga and Yoni" which resembles "Alu" as "Lingga" and the shape of the container (cup-red) in the form of a room resembles "Mountain" as "Yoni". Pestle and mortar are two important tools that every family in Indonesia has, especially rural people. Lingga and Yoni are symbols from ancient times that depict eternal life, are positive elements (linga) and negative elements (yoni) such as the existence of day and night, male and female, good and bad, are the eternity of the world.
The shape of all the architectural lines of this monument manifests lines that move not monotonously evenly, rise, curve, jump, spread again, and rise soaring high, finally surging above the shape of a burning flame. The towering body of the monument with flames at its peak symbolizes and depicts the spirit that is burning and never goes out in the heart of the Indonesian nation.
Monas Development Process
The construction of the Monas monument was carried out in three stages, namely the first stage (1961-1965), the second (1966-1968), and the third stage (1969-1976). In the first stage the implementation of the work is under the supervision of the National Monument Committee and the funds used are sourced from community donations.
The second phase of the work is still being carried out under the supervision of the Monas committee. It's just that, the construction costs come from the Central Government Budget cq the Republic of Indonesia's State Secretariat. In this second stage, development is experiencing sluggishness, due to limited funds.
The third phase of the implementation of the work is under the supervision of the National Monument Advisory Committee, and the funds used are sourced from the Central Government cq the Directorate General of Budget through Repelita using the Project Filling List (DIP).
History Museum Room
The history museum space which is located three meters below the surface of the monument courtyard has a size of 80X80 meters. The walls and floors in the room were all covered with marble. Inside that room, visitors are presented with 51 display windows (dioramas) that capture history from the time of the life of the Indonesian nation's ancestors, the struggle to defend the independence and sovereignty of the Indonesian nation until the development period in the New Order era. In this room too, visitors can also hear Bung Karno's voice recording reading the Proclamation.
Independence Room
While in the independence room which is in the form of an amphitheater located inside the cup of the monument, there are four attributes of independence including a map of the Republic of Indonesia islands, the National Emblem of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, and the gate containing the text of the Proclamation of Independence.
In the courtyard at the top of the monument which is located at an altitude of 115 meters from the courtyard of the monument measuring 11X11 meters, visitors can reach the courtyard by using a single elevator (lift-ed) with a capacity of about 11 people.
In the courtyard which can accommodate about 50 people, four binoculars are also provided in every corner, where visitors can see the view of the city of Jakarta from a height of 132 meters from the Monas monument courtyard.
The bronze flame, which weighs 14.5 tons and is 14 meters high and 6 meters in diameter, consists of 77 sections joined together. The entire flame was covered with a gold plate weighing 35 kilograms, and then on the 50th Indonesian Independence Day, the gold covering the flame was increased to 50 kilograms.