National Monument (Monas)
The National Monument or what the Indonesians called as “Monas”, is a monument built during the era where people fought for freedom which they achieved on August 1945. Monas was built based on the idea of Indonesia’s first president: Ir. Soekarno and was publicly open on July 12, 1971.
The 137-metre tall marble obelisk has a top shaped like a flame made of bronze medal weighing 14.5 ton and was coated with 35 kg of gold. The standing pillar of Monas is 137 meters high which symbolizes rice pestle while the cup symbolizes a rice barn. Rice pestle and barn are important tools to pound rice in an agricultural country like Indonesia. They are also regarded as a symbol of fertility for the Indonesians and as a symbol of male and female.
Monas’ base houses a historical museum and a hall for meditations.
Guests can reach the top of Monas by elevator. The top yard offers a bird's eye view of Jakarta city, Salak Mountain (south side), the ocean (north side) and the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (west side).
At the cup side of Monas is the independence room where a map of Indonesia, red and white flag of Indonesia, Garuda - symbol of Indonesia and a replica of the Indonesian independence proclaim script can be found.
There is also a National History Museum located at the basement of Monas. The museum can accommodate up to 500 people. At the four sides of the museum are display windows showing the life and phenomenon that Indonesian people have gone through since Indonesian ancient time.
Surrounding Monas is the nicely-organized park with several kinds of plants from various region of Indonesia. There is a pathways structured from green thin stone for guests to have foot massage by walking on it without shoes. The park also has a pool with fountain and statue of Princess Diponegoro riding a horse, made of 8 ton bronze medal. The statue is located near the gate of the tunnel which leads to the monument.