Water Castle, Taman Sari in the Sultane Palace of Yogyakarta.

 Gedong Gapura Panggung,The front door of Taman Sari.

Next to Bali,Yogyakarta is today the  most desirable tourist destinations in Indonesia, offering a variety of tourist attractions ranging from natural attractions, historical tours, to culinary. One of the many historical sites in Yogyakarta is the Taman Sari,Water Castle located at Jalan Taman, Yogyakarta.

The gate into bathing pools.

Taman Sari is located very close to the palace of Yogyakarta Sultanate and only took about 15 minutes from the north square of the palace. This place was once a place of recreation for the royal family as well as the fortress was built in 1758-1765 by the Sultan Hamengku Buwono I. Now, Taman Sari Water Castle is one of the cultural heritage of Yogyakarta, which has become a popular tourist spot in the city.

Umbul Pamuncar,The Bathing Pool For King's Wifes.

Taman Sari was, or Beautiful Garden, used to for three functions, namely as : a defense area and a shelter as indicated by the high fortress which suroounded Taman Sari; the bation or a place to set the weapons; the gates equipped with the guard posts; and the underground tunnels that connects one area to others sych as from Margi Inggil to Pulo Kenanga, from Pulo Kenanga to Sumur Gumuling, Sumur GUmuling to Gerbang Segaran, on the western side of Taman Sari.

Taman Sari also functioned as a religious place. The buildings used by th Sulthan for religious service and meditation were Pulo Penembung and Sumur GUmuling, located in the middle of Kolam Segaram,. Pulo Penembang is located on the south of Pulo Kenangan and Sumur Gumuling is on the west of Pulo Kenanga.

Lastly, Taman Sari as a recreation/ Resting place. There are many facilities for recreation and retreat such as a bathing place complex, pools, ponds, arificial lake, and gardens. During its era, the artificial lake was streching from Pulo Kenangan to Pula Gedong the east of Palace. Through a ditch called Kali Larangan, Segawan water was directed from the Bendalole dam at Winongo river,  Pingit, on the northwest side of Yogyakarta. Other facilities related to water are pools or ponds such as Umbul Binangun, Kolam Garjitawati, Pasiraman Umbulsari adn Kolam Nagaluntak.

 
The Buildings with initial area of 10 hectares  has 57 buildings, consisting of a complex of bathing pools, artificial lakes, artificial islands, suspension bridges, canals, parks, underground passageways, as well as several buildings with European architecture, Chinese, Javanese, Hindu, Buddhism, and Islam.  The compound is a make up of four complexes namely:  Artificial lake,"Segaran" located in the west, where you will find Pulo Kenongo, Pulo Cemethi, serta Sumur Gumuling.

Umbul Panguras,The Bathing Pool For the Sultan.

Pulo Kenongo is an island in the middle of an artificial lake complex of Taman Sari. Here there is a building named Gedhong Kenongo, the building which was once the highest place in Keraton Yogyakarta making it possible to view the region as a whole palace. In the vicinity there are air vents for underground tunnels that can be used if it will escape from the enemy.You can see the sunset here because until now, the place is still one of the tallest buildings in Yogyakarta. Against the backdrop of the city of Yogyakarta, the sunset will be very memorable.

Umbul Kawitan,the Bathing Pool For the King's sons and daughters.

Pulo Cemethi located south Pulo Kenongo sultan is ideally used for meditation. Pulo Cemethi To achieve this, you must pass through an underground tunnel. 

The Traditional Sauna  for the Royal Family.

Gumuling well is located in the western part of Pulo Kenongo and a place of worship Sultan who can be reached through an underground tunnel. Although intended as a mosque, the well is different from the mosque in general because of the circular-shaped niche. Gumuling wells consist of two floors, the first floor is the assembly of men, while the second floor is a place for female pilgrims. 

In the Gumuling Well, if you speak loudly so your voice will be heard throughout the building. In the middle of the well, there are five ladders that implies five pillars of Islam, four of them up and merge in the middle, while the fourth-fifth connecting the ladder to the second floor . Under the stairs, you will find a pool of water which is ablution for pilgrims.

The second complex of Taman Sari has several buildings, namely:
a. Gedhong Gapura Hageng;Gedhong Hageng Gate is the main gateway to the west, but now it is not used anymore and the main entrance for visitors has been transferred to the east. Gedhong Hageng gate has a two-level room decorated with reliefs to describe the initial years of development of Taman Sari, namely 1765.

b. Gedhong calyx-calyx (Gopok-Gopok);This building was once a 2-storey tower, but now the building is gone and replaced by eight square garden.

 c. Pasiraman pennant (pennant Binangun);Bannerman Pasiraman or commonly known as Bannerman Binangun a bathing place along with the daughter of the sultan and his harem surrounded by high walls on each side. Bannerman Pasiraman has 3 pools named pennant Muncar, Blumbang Kuras and Binangun banners emblazoned with mushroom-shaped fountain and can be accessed through two entrance gates on the west and east.

 d. Gedhong Sekawan;Located east Umbul Pasiraman and form pages with four buildings as a resting place sultan.

 e. Gedhong Gapura Stage;Currently Gedhong Stage Gate is the main entrance gate used by a visitor to enter the Taman Sari complex and is located east of Taman Sari Water Castle. This 2-story building has a snake reliefs on the walls, depicting the completed construction of Taman Sari, namely 1758.

 f. Gedhong temanten;The building is located in the east Gedhong Gapuro stage and used as a place of custody.

 

Gedong Gapura Hageng, the ex Front Gate of Taman Sari.

Source : Leaflet on Taman Sari Ngayogyakarta as based on Eka Hadiyanta, IGN., menguak Keagungan Taman Sari, Sumber Aksara Yogyakarta, 2012.