National Museum, Jakarta (must see)

The National Museum of Indonesia, also known to tourists as the Gedung Gajah (Elephant Building) because of the elephant statues in the front yard, hosts the finest historical, archeological, numismatic, ethnological and geographical exhibits from Indonesia and some of the completest collections from South Asia. The Museum boasts about 61,500 anthropological and prehistoric exhibits and over 5,000 archeological exhibits. The artifacts are mostly gathered from Indonesia, but other Asian countries are represented through rare objects too.

Among the highly valued collections one must notice the ceramic collection (with Indonesian exhibits as well as rare Chinese, Vietnamese and Japanese artifacts), the stone sculpture collection (with exhibits dating back from prehistoric period), the treasure rooms (featuring ancient gold and silver objects), the prehistory collection (exploring the beginnings of the Indonesian people), the historical relics collection (containing objects – mainly furniture – from the Dutch colonization period) and the ethnography collection. Other collections include numismatics, textile and bronze items.

Recently, the 1868 building proved too small for all the precious artifacts, and a new wing has been built following the original architecture. The new wing features seven levels with only four hosting permanent exhibits. The four levels are structured on themes (man and environment; knowledge, technology and economy; social organization and settlement patterns, and treasures and ceramics).