Siak Sri Indrapura

The Palace Of A Malay Sultanate That Controlled The Sumatran Side Of The Malacca Strait, Built In 1889 In A European Style With Malay Bones And Handed To The Republic In 1945 · Siak, Riau

The SIAK SRI INDRAPURA sultanate ran the Sumatran side of the MALACCA STRAIT - the busiest sea lane in the world then as now - and its wealth is standing on the riverbank. THE ISTANA SIAK, completed in 1889, IS NOT WHAT A MALAY PALACE IS SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE: a white European-styled building with arched windows and a squared-off roofline, ITALIAN TILES, GERMAN STAINED GLASS AND ARAB CALLIGRAPHY, which is what a sultan with strait revenue and catalogue access built in the 1880s. Inside is the sultanate's collection, including a KOMET GRAMOPHONE said to be one of very few surviving anywhere. THE LAST SULTAN HANDED THE SULTANATE AND ITS TREASURY TO THE INDONESIAN REPUBLIC IN 1945 rather than bargaining with the Dutch, which is why the building is intact and why Siak is a quiet river town rather than a ruin, three hours from Pekanbaru and visited by almost no foreigners at all, which is odd for a building this photogenic and this strange.

Siak Sri Indrapura, Siak Regency, Riau, Siak, Riau, Indonesia

THE ISTANA SIAK IS A MUSEUM and keeps daytime hours with a modest entry fee; it CLOSES ON MONDAYS as most Indonesian museums do. IT IS ABOUT THREE HOURS BY ROAD FROM PEKANBARU, which has flights from Jakarta, Medan and Kuala Lumpur - there is also a river route down the SIAK, which is slower and more interesting. THE OTHER SITES ARE WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE: the SULTAN SYARIF KASIM MOSQUE, the royal graves, the old Dutch buildings and the riverside. THE TOWN IS SMALL AND QUIET and can be walked in a couple of hours. MODEST DRESS IS EXPECTED at the mosque and the graves, which are visited by Indonesian pilgrims. IT IS HOT AND HUMID with little shade; go early. Regional haze from land fires affects Riau badly in some years.

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