Tugu Jogja

Tugu Jogja is the most popular landmark in Yogyakarta. This monument is located right in the
center of the crossroads between Mangkubumi, Soedirman, A.M. Sangaji and Diponegoro Roads. The
Tugu Jogja, which almost 3 centuries old has a very deep meaning and it holds some history records of
Yogyakarta.

Tugu Jogja was built around one year after the construction of the Yogyakarta Kingdom. At the
early time of its construction, it clearly described the philosophy of the unity of God’s creatures,
which means teh spirit of togetherness of common people and the authorities to fight colonialism. In
Javanese terms, the spirit of togetherness is called golong gilig and is clearly defined in the
construction of the monument: the pole is of gilig (cylinder) form and the top part is golong
(rounded). This monument was known as Tugu Golong- Gilig.

In details, the monument was originally constructed in the form of a cylindrical pole in a conicle,
upwards-facing shape. The base is an encircling fence, while the top is rounded. The preliminary
height of the monument was 25 meters.

Everything changed, when a big earthquake in Yogyakarta ruined the monument on Monday, 10
June, 1867. The collapse of the monument was a transition time when the unity was not really
reflected in the monument.

The situation changed when in 1889 the Dutch government renovated the monument. The
monument was constructed as a square with each side being decorated with a kind of inscription,
containing the names of people who were involved in the renovation. The top portion is no longer
rounded but pointed. The height of the monument is also lower, it is about 15 meters. Since then, this
monument was also known as white pole monument.

The renovation of the monument was actually a tactic used by the Dutch colonials to erase the
philosophy of togetherness between common people and king. Judging from the result of the struggle
afterwards, however, the effort did not seem to be successful. The Tugu Jogja so identified with
Yogyakarta that it makes many university students from outside of Yogyakarta express their
happiness after graduation day by hugging the Tugu Jogja. That may also express their love for
Yogyakarta as they are about to leave soon but at the same time they promise to return to this city.