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New W. Java museum celebrates motherhood Sunda style
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Visitors can marvel at various displays in Bale Indung Rahayu that are related to motherhood in the Sundanese culture. (kompas.com/Reni Susanti)
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newly launched museum in Purwakarta, West Java, named Bale Indung Rahayung (A Place of Mother’s Honor), celebrates motherhood in the Sundanese culture by highlighting various stages of life, including birth and death.
A dark tunnel welcomes visitors with pictures and explanations about a baby’s journey starting from the age of zero to nine months. The introduction is accompanied by the cries of a newborn baby.
After passing the tunnel, visitors enter a wide room with a high ceiling that symbolizes the world to which the baby is born. Stories of motherhood in the Sundanese culture can be viewed on its walls, told using several traditional terms about centuries-old ceremonies following the child's birth.
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Purwakarta regent Dedi Mulyadi told kompas.com that he had created the museum’s concept, interior design and even its background music.
The museum aims to express the Sundanese people’s views on motherhood. It is also Dedi’s homage to his late mother.
Visitors can also marvel at the museum’s collections of traditional children’s games via photos, paintings and art instillations, although several games on display cannot be played.
Balai Indung Rahayu is open free to the public, tempo.co reported. (asw)
