Gedong Kirtya Today
At the moment, Gedong Kirtya has a library
in Dutch, English and Germand containing
research on Balinese culture and 2000
lontars. In addition, Gedong Kirtya also
keeps manuscripts on paper in Balinese
and Roman characters. There are registered
4000 lontar manuscripts stored in the
building.
We
are now in the era of advanced sophisticated
electronic and computer technology which
some decades ago were still deemed as
science fiction. A comic strip such as
Flash Gordon, science fiction of which
readers young and old alike are fond,
due to its exciting technology at that
time, displayed spacecraft which was able
to land on other planets. All this is
no longer factious.
Now
computers are no longer expressive luxury
items. As a matter of fact, computers
are widely used for many purposes and
they are gradually replacing typewriters.
Floppy disks have replaced paper.
In
the midst of this advanced technology
today, in Singaraja the capital of the
Regency of Buleleng, can be found a unique
library called "Gedong Kirtya".
This library is the only one of this kind
in the world. It collects, copies and
keeps thousands of "lontar"
, books, transcriptions of "prasasti"
(prasasti is an inscription on a metal
plate) which deal with all aspects of
human life such as religion, philosophy,
folklore, black magic or sorcery, medical
formulae, pharmacy, architecture, geography
and many others, in Balinese. Old Javanese
and Dutch languages.
Gedong Kirtya is located
at Jalan Veteran n0.20 Singaraja, next
to Sasana Budaya Cultural Centre, formerly
the Buleleng Kingdom palace. It is frequently
visited by tourists and local residents
alike who are interested in learning about
Balinese culture.
Source:
Gedong Kirtya,Issued by The Goverment
Tourism Office of Buleleng,1997
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