“The glory that was Majapahit continually provides us with inspiration regarding the unity and greatness of Indonesia’
The Chair of the YAD Foundation, Hashim Djojohadikusumo, and the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, represented in this instance by the Deputy Dean of Academic and Student Affairs, Dr Wening Udasmoro, SS, M.Hum, DEA, together inaugurated the Mandala Majapahit (ManMa) on the second floor of the Margono Djojohadikusumo Building of the Gajahmada University’s Faculty of Humanities campus in Bulaksumur on 5 December 2014. This is the second Mandala Majapahit facility after the ManMa in Trowulan. The Development of this second ManMa represents a cooperation between the YAD and the UGM Faculty of Humanities.
The placing of the ManMa in the Archaeology Department of the UGM Faculty of Humanities is so that the resource can be at the heart of the academic community at the UGM Faculty of Humanities as the principle supporter of research activities and the study of archaeological sciences. The UGM Faculty of Humanities is one of the participants in the YAD program in Trowulan, namely the integrated Indonesian Archaeological Research project (PATI) which began in 2008.
ManMa is a room which can function both as a mini museum and library which contains a number of data sources, information and reports on conservation efforts in Towulan/Majapahit.
Step by step YAD will build three more ManMa resource facilities in three other universities, namely the University of Indonesia (UI), Hasanuddn University (UNHAS) and Udayana University (UNUD). These three universities are also part of the PATI team. In establishing these ManMa facilities, YAD has received financial support from a key YAD donor namely Mrs Margareth Njoo.
YAD chair, Hashim Djojohadikisumo, stated that seven hundred years ago in the Majapahit era, Patih Gajahmada swore to unify the archipelago. We should be proud to have a legacy which inspires.
He also gave an impression of Majapahit in its heyday, when the influence of the kingdom stretched far and wide over neighbouring countries now known as Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. In the Majapahit era, these areas formed one integral part of a unified archipelago.
Hashim asked that the younger generation looks to the example of Majapahit which greatly respected diversity and difference. He hoped that whoever the younger generation and the country’s leadership would be, they should take the example of the history of Majapahit as their guide.
He also hoped for active participation from a number of sources to make use of ManMa through a number of positive activities, including the addition of new data and research findings so that the heritage of Majapahit could be used for the greater glory of Indonesia.
Meanwhile, YAD Executive Director, Catrini Kubontubuh expressed the hope that the presence of ManMa would increase access for the wider public not just for academics so that there could be an enhancement of the wider understanding of the Majapahit site.
The Deputy Dean of the UGM Faculty of Humanities, Dr Wening Udasmoro S.S., M.Hum. DEA, stated that there was already a great deal of research done on the remains of Majapahit carried out by both indigenous and foreign researchers, but not many of the outcomes and reports of this research had been made accessible to the general public.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by a number of lecturers, professors and Faculty of Humanities students, above all for those involved in the archaeology study programme, and from local media circles, as well as those interested in conservation and the conservation community in Yogyakarta besides activists from the Save Trowulan organisation who had come directly from Trowulan. (Translated from Bahasa Indonesia edition by Dr. Peter Carey)