Portal:Indonesia/BOTW/14, 2007

Sultan Agung of Mataram was the Sultan of Mataram based in Central Java from 1613-1645. He built the Karta Palace, and the Royal Graveyard of Imogiri. Agung was responsible for the great expansion and lasting historical legacy of Mataram due to the extensive military conquests of his long reign.

Following Agung's conquering of Surabaya in 1625 the Mataram kingdom encompassed all of central and eastern Java, and Madura, except for the west and east end of the island and its mountainous south. In 1645 Sultan Agung began building Imogiri, his burial place, about fifteen kilometers south of Yogyakarta. Imogiri remains the resting place of most of the royalty of Yogyakarta and Surakarta to this day. Agung died in the spring of 1646, leaving behind an empire that covered most of Java and stretched to its neighboring islands.

Pilgrimage to his graveyard complex is considered to be significant to many Javanese pilgrims, who make considerable effort to go to Imogiri at appropriate times and days in the Javanese and Islamic calendars. In the Sukarno era he was nominated and confirmed as a National Hero of Indonesia. (Read more...)