Bandung: The Most Beautiful City in Indonesia

Bandung is one of the big cities in Indonesia. Bandung is also the capital city of West Java Province. It is not far from Jakarta, capital city of Indonesia. If you go from Jakarta, it takes 3 hours of driving or 2 hour by train and 45 minutes by plane. The city is a major industrial center and the cultural capital of the Sundanese people. A local newspaper, Pikiran Rakyat, 19 March 2003 mentioned, “according to Population Registration of 2000, the population of Bandung City was 2,136,260 people and the area is 167,730 square kilometres.”

 Bandung has four local public transportation means: bus (big and medium bus), minibus, taxi, and becak. Becak is a tricycle that has the driver in the back and the passengers in the front.  For intercity transportation, Bandung City has trains that transport passengers and deliver merchandise to all the cities on Java Island, and airplanes go to some of the big cities in Indonesia.

In Bandung, there are six state universities and eleven private universities. Two of the state universities are famous universities in Indonesia: Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) and Universitas Padjadjaran. (UNPAD).  An ITB website tells us:

ITB was established in 1920 as Technische Hogeschool (TH), which for a short time, in the middle forties, became Kogyo Daigaku. Not long after the birth of the Republic of Indonesia in 1945, the campus housed the Technical Faculty of Universitas Indonesia, with the head office in Jakarta. In 1959, the present lnstitut Teknologi Bandung was founded by the Indonesian government as an institution of higher learning of science, technology, and fine arts, with a mission of education, research, and service to the community.

Today, ITB is the best engineering, science and fine arts school in Indonesia. Another famous university in Bandung is UNPAD. It was established in 1957 and has medical, science and business schools. Now UNPAD has moved to new and big complex in Jatinangor, Sumedang five miles from Bandung, but the medical and business school are still in Bandung.

The history of Bandung City is unique and has developed in many different situations.  The Institute of Indonesian Architectural History (IIAH) mentions on their website that:

the city history dates from 1488 when the first reference to Bandung exists. However, from ancient archeological finds, we know the city was home to Australopithecus, Java Man. These people lived on the banks of the Cikapundung in north Bandung, and on the shores of the Great Lake of Bandung. Flint artifacts can still be found in the Upper Dago area and the Geological Museum has displays and fragments of skeletal remains and artifacts.

Bandung City history relates to the Dutch colonial period, especially during the Daendels period. IIAH also mentions this:

In 1786, the great post road was built connecting Jakarta, Bogor, Cianjur and Bandung. The Governor General H.W. Daendels was oversaw this project, which went thorough, the Priangan highlands to avoid swampy land. Bupati Wiranatakusumah II, the regent of West Java at the time, chose a site south of the road on the western bank of the Cikapundung, near a pair of holy wells, Sumur Bandung, supposedly protected by the ancient goddess Nyi Kentring Manik. On this site, he built his dalem (palace) and the alun-alun (city square). Following traditional orientations, Mesjid Agung (The Grand Mosque) was placed on the western side, and the public market on the east. His residence and Pendopo (meeting place) was on the south facing the mystical mountain of Tangkuban Perahu. Thus was The Flower City born.

Another historical incident that is very famous in Bandung City is the Bandung Ocean of Fire incident. This is related to the war against Dutch colonialism after the Indonesian government proclaimed its independence on 17 August 1945. IIAH writes about this:

The war years did little to change the city of Bandung, but in 1946, facing the return of the Colonial Dutch to Indonesia, citizens chose to burn down their beloved Bandung in what has become known as Bandung Lautan Api, Bandung Ocean of Fire. Citizens fled to the southern hills and overlooking the "ocean of flames" penned "Halo Halo Bandung," the anthem promising their return.

IIAH mentions Bandung is “the Flower City.” That is another name for Bandung City. During the Dutch colonial, Bandung City was famous for colorful flowers around the city.  Bandung has many parks and all the parks are full of flowers. In addition, because the Dutch people love Bandung for leisure and as a shopping place, they called Bandung Parisj van Java. It means Paris in Java. When they lived in Bandung, they felt Bandung was similar to Paris in Europe. Paris is famous as the most beautiful city in the world.

The Dutch Colonists built many beautiful buildings in Bandung. Those buildings become special buildings. They are historical buildings in Bandung City now. Most of them are in the northern part of Bandung City. One of them is a landmark of Bandung City. That is Gedung Sate (Satay Building). It has this name because of the special decoration on the roof, which somewhat resemblances a stick of sate. The West Java governor uses this building as the governor’s office now. Actually, most of the government office buildings in Bandung City are historical buildings from the Dutch Colonial period. Every spot in Bandung City has a historical building. My senior high school building, SMU 3 Bandung, is one of the historical buildings. In addition, there is a beautiful building whose name is Isola. That was a villa during Dutch colonialism and is the office of the Chancellor of Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia now.

If we are on vacation in Bandung, we can see traditional art performances like angklung performance in Saung Mang Ujo. Angklung is a traditional instrument from West Java and is made from bamboo pipes which produce a melodious tone. I learned how to play angklung when I was high school. I enjoyed it very much when I played the song” Winter Game” from David Foster with my high school team. The angklung team sounds like an orchestra. Another art performance that we can see in Bandung City is wayang golek in Gedung Kesenian Baranang Siang (Baranang Siang Arts Building). Wayang golek is one of the wooden puppet shows. The performers, as we call them dalang, tell the story using wooden puppet. A long time ago, the Sundanese used wayang golek to teach religion and philosophy.

Besides historical buildings and art performances, the geographic condition makes Bandung also become a special place. Bandung is located in the uplands in the middle of West Java, surrounded by old volcanoes. It has cool, comfortable weather and an upland climate. Northern Bandung City is cooler than Southern Bandung City because there are two land levels in Bandung, Southern Bandung City is relatively flat, but Northern Bandung City is mountainous. Both of those situation make Bandung has wonderful scenery.

The beautiful scenery around Bandung City is something tourists need to see. Bandung has an active strato volcano within the Sunda Caldera. Its name is Tangkuban Perahu. Tangkuban Perahu has erupted about seventeen times since 1826. Every night is foggy there. Every weekend many people go to the volcano for hiking. Tangkuban Perahu means capsized boat. The name comes from the legend of Tangkuban Perahu. The legend tells about a son, Sangkuriang, who loved and wanted to marry the mother, Dayang Sumbi. Dayang Sumbi asked Sangkuriang to make a boat in a night and he must finish before sunrise. The son could not finish the job and became angry. He kicked the boat. The boat capsized and became a volcano.

Bandung climate is good for plantation especially tea plantation. That is why we can see tea plantations and rice fields in the southern part of Bandung. It is very amazing scenery. When we pass that area, it looks like huge green carpet. The other interesting places for tourists in Bandung are Ciater's Hot Spring and Maribaya's Waterfall. There are cottages that we can rent so we can stay more than one night to enjoy the situation.

One thing that we cannot forget if we go to Bandung is shopping. Bandung has unique areas that have many stores selling jeans. That street’s name is Cihampelas. We can buy many kinds of jeans, local or imported products. Bandung is also city with a thousand factory outlets. We can find brand name products. Most of the factory outlets sell clothes and bags.

If you love eating out, Bandung is the best place for eating out. Many people from Jakarta come to Bandung just for eating. There are many good restaurants with traditional, national or international food. If you do not have time, you can stop at food store and buy special food to go. We called them oleh-oleh or gifts from Bandung

There is no end to the stories if we talk about Bandung.  The beauty of Bandung City is too short to describe with words. No wonder many tourists love to go to Bandung. If you have never been there, just go and prove my words that Bandung is the most beautiful city in Indonesia.