Bandung
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Bandung (formerly spelled: Bandoeng) is the provincial capital of West Java, Indonesia. Located on a highland plateau 768 meters above sea level, at Template:Coor dm, the city has a population of around 2.1 million. Kabupaten Bandung is the suburban area surrounding the city of Bandung.
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History
In 1488, the area now named Bandung was the capital of the Kingdom of Pajajaran. During colonial times, the government of the Dutch East Indies built a supply road connecting Batavia (now Jakarta), Bogor, Cianjur, Bandung, Sumedang and Cirebon. This event was very important for the growth of Bandung. In the 1930s the Dutch East Indies government planned for Bandung to become the capital of the Dutch East Indies due to its location, however World War II disrupted these plans.
It is not known exactly when the city of Bandung was built. However, contrary to the beliefs of some the city was not originally built by the orders of Daendels, the Dutch East Indies Governor General , but by the orders of Bupati R.A. Wiranatakusumah II. The Dutch colonial powers built wide tree-lined boulevards, villas, gardens, and fountains, earning Bandung the nickname of "Parijs van Java", the Paris of Java, in the early 20th century. Many of these structures survive to today, and can be seen along the road leading to the Dago area north of the city.
After Indonesian independence, Bandung was named as the provincial capital of West Java (Jawa Barat). Bandung was the site of the Bandung Conference which met April 18-April 24, 1955 with the aim of promoting economic and cultural cooperation among the African and Asian countries, and to counter the threat of colonialism or neocolonialism by the United States, the Soviet Union, or other imperialistic nations.
Motto
The motto of Bandung is "Gemah Ripah Wibawa Mukti" as shown in City of Bandung's logo. It means 'rich soil prosperous people'.
Government
The City of Bandung is divided into 26 districts of Kecamatan: Sukasari, Cidadap, Coblong, Cibeunying Kaler, Cibeunying Kidul, Sukajadi, Cicendo, Andir, Bandung Kulon, Babakan Ciparay, Astana Anyar, Bojongloa Kaler, Bojongloa Kidul, Bandung Kidul, Regol, Lengkong, Sumur Bandung, Bandung Wetan, Kiara Condong, Batununggal, Cicadas, Margacinta, Rancasari, Arcamanik, Ujungberung, Cibiru.
The list of Bandung's head of city (Walikota): Template:BandungCityMayors
Landmarks
Bandung is known for its large number of old buildings in Dutch architecture:
- Gedung Sate, now functioning as the office of West Java government.
- Hotel Savoy Homann in Jalan Asia-Afrika
- Gedung Dwi Warna
- Gedung Merdeka, a historic building where the 1955 Bandung Conference or ""Konferensi Asia-Africa"" took place
- Gedung Pakuan, now the official residence of Governor of West Java
- Gedung Yayasan Pusat Kebudayaan
- Museum Geologi Bandung (Geological Museum of Bandung)
- Institut Teknologi Bandung
- Villa Isola - UPI
- There are several old buildings along the street of Braga
Other landmarks:
- Mesjid Agung Bandung (the great mosque of Bandung), located in the city square (alun-alun)
- Babakan Siliwangi
- The unfinished 2.8 Km bridge of Pasupati. The huge bridge (compared to the relative size of Bandung) is now unfinished, but it will surely be a major landmark once it finished
Geography
Bandung is bookmarked by several hilly, mountainous parts. The Lembang highlands to the north is a popular weekend getaway area, offering even cooler climates and beautiful views of the surrounding plateau. Its popularity ensures its continuing development, with new hotels, resorts and restaurants built and continuing the urban expansion further north. Traditionally, this area is also supported by agriculture in form of flower and vegetable plantations, and several tea plantations further north.
The area surrounding Bandung is volcanic, and tourist attractions such as Maribaya and Tangkuban Perahu are only a short trip away. Maribaya offers mountainous terrain and its hot, sulfur springs are a popular destination year-long. Tangkuban Perahu is a volcanic crater into which areas tourists can walk through.
The recent expansion of the city borders added the southern lowlands to the city of Bandung, mostly consisting of industrialized areas and recently housing developments. The garment industry is dominant among the manufacturing companies, and attracts many migrants from the countryside to relocate to Bandung.
Culture
The West Java people are called the Sunda, endowed with language and traditions unique to that of the rest of Java. The Sunda language has 3 distinct hierarchies, starting from the lowly "Sunda kasar" or "harsh Sundanese", middle Sundanese, and "Sunda lemes" or "soft Sundanese". Many Sundanese words have been adopted into Indonesian, although many of its contributions consist of swear wods. The old Hindu kingdom in the region is called Pajajaran, and West Java used to be called Parahyangan, meaning "Land of the Gods". In its later history, the region fell under influence of the Central Java kingdoms, reflected in high Sundanese having borrowed much of its vocabulary and grammar from high Javanese.
In Indonesia, the Sundanese are known to be more easygoing and less formal in their temperament than their distant relatives from Central Java and East Java. This is reflected in the grammar of the Sundanese language, which has many forms allowing for meaningless light banter. Interestingly, Sundanese has contributed many swear words to the Indonesian language spoken in Jakarta.
The most popular traditional musical instrument, the "angklung", is made of parallel bamboo tubes tuned to specific frequencies with a hammer and is shaken to produce certain notes. Music is performed by a choir of angklung players, each of whom are responsible for sounding certain notes. Its melody is only slightly different from that of Central Java's gamelan ensembles.
Transportation
The primary means of transportation is public transportation vans (in local language: Angkot, or angkutan kota) which serve certain routes and are run by private operators. There are also a not particularly large number of taxis, but they are not popular since they are quite expensive in comparison, and those who could afford them would prefer and already have private transport. Buses serve transportation route in big roads and relatively long routes.
A railroad track connects Bandung to Jakarta and Cianjur to the west, and Tasikmalaya and Cilacap to the east. It is also the major means of transportation for people in neighboring areas of Cimahi, Padalarang, Rancaekek and Cileunyi who need to commute to Bandung everyday.
The major airport of Bandung is Husein Sastranegara, serving flights to other major cities in Indonesia.
The bridge of Pasupati is being constructed at the time of this writing. It connects the eastern and northern part of Bandung through the valley of Cikapundung. It is 2.8 Km long and 30-60 m wide. It is expected to be finished in mid 2005.
Tollroad of Padaleunyi connects Padalarang, Cimahi, southern part of Bandung and Cileunyi. A tollroad that connects Padalarang and Purwakarta is being constructed, in turn it will connect Bandung and Jakarta. Cileunyi-Sumedang tollroad is also being considered.
For short distances, or for leisure, there are horse carriages (called: Andong, or Delman), very attractively decorated with colorful horse accessories and local prints, abundant around jalan Gunung Batu (Gunung Batu road). When full, it can carry about six to eight persons, facing each other. There are also man-pedaled carriages, the driver at the back, pedalling, and the passenger in front (only carries about two persons, three at most). These are called becak, usually can be found in residential areas, to transfer residents from large roads to small roads not run by angkot. These becak are also used sometimes in pasar (name for traditional market), to carry heavy loads of vegetables, fruit, and other groceries. The becak can also be found in other cities of Indonesia, with little differences in form. The becak in Bandung almost always have roofs for the passengers on them, whereas in Yogyakarta most do not.
Education
Many of Indonesia's major universities are located in Bandung, earning Bandung the name of 'city of education' or 'city of students'. The Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) was established by the Dutch colonial administration at the turn of the 20th century, and was famous for being the alma mater of Sukarno, the first president of Indonesia and outspoken figure who initiated Bandung Conference.
- Institut Teknologi Bandung (http://www.itb.ac.id)
- Universitas Padjajaran (http://www.unpad.ac.id)
- Universitas Katolik Parahyangan (http://www.unpar.ac.id)
- Universitas Maranatha (http://www.maranatha.edu)
- Institut Teknologi Nasional (http://www.itenas.ac.id)
- Universitas Pasundan (http://www.unpas.ac.id)
- Politeknik Manufaktur Bandung (http://www.polman.com)
- Universitas Widyatama (http://www.widyatama.ac.id)
- Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (http://www.upi.edu)
Some of the high schools located in Bandung:
- SMU Negeri 2 Bandung (http://www.sman2bdg.or.id/)
- SMU Negeri 3 Bandung
- SMU Negeri 5 Bandung
- SMU Negeri 8 Bandung
- SMU Negeri 9 Bandung
- SMU Taruna Bakti Bandung (purwa/tarbak)
- SMU St. Aloysius Bandung
- SMA Kristen 1 BPK Penabur Bandung
- SMU Trinitas
- SMU St. Angela
- Bina Bakti (http://www.binabakti.or.id)
Bandung also is the place of the research institute for social complexity sciences,
- Bandung Fe Institute (http://www.bandungfe.net)
Tourism and Economy
Bandung_market.JPG
Bandung and its surrounding areas have many of tourist attractions:
- Gunung Tangkuban Perahu to the north of the city.
- Maribaya
- Lembang
- Ciwidey
- Pangalengan
- Waduk Jatiluhur
- Saung Pak Udjo
For the locals, a quick escape up north to the Lembang area offers a relief from the increasing heat and pollution in the city centers. Many high-end housing complexes have been developed in the past 2 decades, causing further overpopulation problems in this side of the city. As a side effect, the Boscha observatory in Lembang is not nearly as effective as it used to be due to severe light pollution from the residents.
Bandung also known for its wealth of clothing outlet, attacting a huge number of visitors from surrounding cities (particularly from Jakarta), especially during weekends and holidays:
- Denim clothing industry outlets along the street of Cihampelas.
- Now, know as "Kota Wisata Belanja" - Shopping Tourist City, because so many Factory Outlet which sells ex-export garment products.
- Bandung also known for its garment industry, some of its product that didn't get exported is sold at cheaper price in outlets (in local speak: 'factory outlet') in Bandung, particularly in Jalan Ir. H. Juanda (Dago) and Jalan R.E. Martadinata (Riau).
- There are also flourishing shoe industry in Cibaduyut in southern Bandung.
Bandung is also famous for its food; it is well-known for its many contributions to the culinary world such peuyeum, batagor, comro, and the bajigur drink. Peuyeum is made from fermented sago. Batagor is an acronym for baso tahu goreng, literally translates to deep-fried fish/meatballs and tofu. Comro is an acronym for oncom di jero, which translates to oncom inside. Bajigur is a sweet traditional drink served warm, and is popular in the evenings as Bandung's climate is more temperate than the rest of Indonesia.
Bandung attracts a lot of visitors from Jakarta, sometimes resulting in severe traffic jam. Most notable is when all Jakarta was being put on holiday because of the APEC Convention, traffic in Bandung came into halt for more than 8 hours.
Sports
Bandung is the home town of the soccer team Persib Bandung. Another soccer team Persikab Bandung is actually based in neighboring city of Cimahi, which is part of Kabupaten Bandung. There are also less prominent soccer teams such as Bandung Raya or lately known as Mastrans Bandung Raya. The most popular stadium is Stadion Siliwangi.
Other popular sports in Bandung include Badminton and Basketball.
The roads leading up to the Lembang and Dago areas are popular routes for cycling during the weekends. Bandung itself used to have cycling races in the 1970s, and produced several notable cyclists during that era. More recently, Bandung was visited by the revived Tour d'Indonesia.
External links
- SundaNet (http://www.sundanet.com)
- Kusnet - Sundanese Community in Internet (http://www.urang-sunda.or.id/index.htm)
- The government of Bandung (http://www.bandung.go.id)
- Paris van Java (http://www.kotadigital.com)
Bandung is also a Malay drink consisting of milk flavored with rosewater, usually dyed pink. Funnily, you can try to find Bandung in Bandung, with no avail.id:Bandung kota su:Bandung da:Bandung de:Bandung nl:Bandung no:Bandung pl:Bandung pt:Bandung fi:Bandung zh:万隆