Historical Visit
Besides visiting Baduy. We also visited the old Banten. Banten used to be the most popular kingdom. It is known till England. Once their representative visited England and they were welcomed exaggeratedly. Banten is famous because it had an international port for trading. People from many countries visited it. Unfortunately there’s disagreement between the father—Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa—and the son—Sultan Haji who collaborated with the Dutch—which lead to the destruction of the palace and the vanquishing the offspring of the royal family. They now spread everywhere.
The remnant was unknown back then till recently on the initiative of one person there the digging was conducted. During the old regime, Old Banten was stated to be dead site. So, not like Borobudur temple, the Old Banten remained infamous. The reconstruction was done very slowly. You can see in my pictures there. Instead now, the site is famous for the people who believe in magic tricks. They who seek fortune and luck usually go there and do some rituals in the remnant of the site, such as in the place which used to be the bathing place of the queen and princess (there’s a square structure with green water, that’s the place where you can ask for beauty and future husband/wife. Just circle the water 7 times and said what your wish then take wudhu in the rectangular structure with still green water to complete the process) and in the caves where once the guards did their duty to protect the palace. If you mention the word magic, Banten will surely be one of the recommended places.
The palace was really huge and it was surrounded by double canal. For more details about the history of Banten, you can check wikipedia I guess.
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