Why Yogyakarta?

Yogyakarta (also Jogjakarta in pre-1972 spelling or Jogja) is a city and province on the island of Java, Indonesia. It is the only province in Indonesia that is still formally governed by a precolonial Sultanate, the Sultanate of Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat. The city is known as a center of classical Javanese fine art and culture such as batik, ballet, drama, music, poetry and puppet shows. It is also famous as a center for Indonesian higher education. The official name of the Yogyakarta province is Special Region of Yogyakarta.

Haunted by spiralling population, economic and political problems, the most populous island in South East Asia is a land of contrasts with an uncertain future.

Java is an island of striking natural beauty, rich in cultural history. But it’s getting harder to recognise it.

At Yogyakarta’s center is the kraton, or Sultan’s palace. Surrounding the kraton is a densely-populated residential neighborhood that occupies land that was formerly the Sultan’s sole domain; evidence of this former use remains in the form of old walls and the ruined Water Castle (Tamansari), built in 1758 as a pleasure garden. No longer used...