Taman Mini Indonesia Indah [TMII or Beautiful Indonesia Miniature Park in English] is the place to go in Jakarta to see Indonesia and its rich culture in one day. The theme you will see all over TMII is diversity.
Indonesia is a big country in the form of an archipelago. According to BPS [Badan Pusat Statistik = Indonesia Central Bureau of Statistic], the total area of Indonesia are 1,916,907 square meters consisting of 16,056 islands. There are 633 ethnic groups in Indonesia, each has its own culture. The imaginary divider of Wallace and Weber lines show Indonesia has so many endemic animals, a mix between species found in Australia, Papua New Guinea, and Southeast Asia.
Taman Mini Indonesia Indah tries to capture all of these diversities in one park. Hence, you will see pavilions from every province in Indonesia, six houses of worship for every religion in Indonesia, 18 museums, bird parks, and many kinds of gardens.
Ask for a map at the gate or Information Center
The gate of Taman Mini Indonesia opens daily from 7 am to 10 pm. However, all of the pavillions, museums, gardens, and rides have shorter opening hours. Usually, people come early to exercise or cycle around this massive park.
The first thing you will see as soon as you pass the gate is the landmark of Taman Mini Indonesia: a tall monument called Tugu Api Pancasila. Since it is in the middle of a large square, many parades and events are held in this square.
This monument has five tall pillars in the form of keris [the traditional Javanese weapon, it looks like a wavy dagger]. These five pillars represent the five principles of Pancasila, the Indonesian state philosophy and ideology.
The height of this monument is 45 meters, stand in the middle of a pond with a diameter of 17 meters. The space between these five pillars is 8 meters. 17, 8, and 45 represent the date of Indonesia's independence: August 17, 1945.
On top of the monument lays a flame-shaped metal, hence, it is called Tugu Api Pancasila [Tugu is the Indonesian word for a Monument, Api is the Indonesian word for Flame].
Bring your camera, because there are so many beautiful spots to capture.
If you haven't downloaded the TMII map, you'd better go to the information center first. Its location is behind Tugu Api Pancasila. You also can get a booklet of the events calendar. You will get information on what, when, and where particular events take place. Usually, events occur on weekends.
Since Taman Mini Indonesia Indah is an enormous park [it is approximately 150 hectares], there are so many things you can explore here. We start this page with:
In the next pages, we will continue the exploration of:
Pavilions or anjungan in Bahasa Indonesia are traditional houses from every province in Indonesia. In the beginning, every province got a vast area, enough for three different traditional buildings with huge yards. So, whenever you walk into these pavilions, it feels like you step into a tiny village somewhere remote in Indonesia.
All of the first 27 provinces have their traditional houses built surrounding the lake that looks like the Indonesia archipelago.
However, the province of Timor Timur chose to be independent from Indonesia through a referendum in 1999. Since then, the pavilion became Timor Timur Museum.
Over the years, the government split some provinces that have grown tremendously into smaller areas. Today there are 34 provinces in Indonesia. Hence, Taman Mini Indonesia Indah built new pavilions to represent the new provinces. Unfortunately, they couldn't be in front of the Indonesia Archipelago [Plaza Arsipel in Bahasa Indonesia] because there isn't any space left there.
It is fun to walk inside every traditional house and look around. Every pavilion showcases its traditional costumes, tools, weapons, handicrafts, and traditions. Whenever they hold an event, there will be some traditional dances and ceremonies. Of course, every pavilion is different, depending on their customs.
If you have time, it is fun to explore every pavilion. Another way to see them all is by riding a cable car. There are three cable car stations for two routes. All cable cars will pass on top of the pavilions and Plaza Arsipel (the lake of Indonesia Archipelago).
Continuing the diversity theme in Taman Mini Indonesia Indah, there are six different houses of worship:
They are all located in the same area, and they are all active houses of worship. You may need to check their schedule in advance if you want to join the ceremonies.
Taman Mini Indonesia Indah has 18 museums! So, TMII has the highest number of museums in one area in Indonesia. The second highest in the rank is the District Museum, with six museums in Kota Tua Jakarta.
Similar to other museums, most of the museums in Taman Mini Indonesia Indah display historical objects. But a couple of museums include living things in their displays. For example, there is a butterfly garden inside the Insect Museum. Another example is the Komodo museum, where you will see both the preserved and living komodo and other reptiles there :)
You are not sure which museum you want to visit first? I have written short descriptions of all the museums in Taman Mini Indonesia Indah. Check it out here!
Next on our exploration of Taman Mini Indonesia Indah:
It is very easy to go to Taman Mini Indonesia Indah from Jakarta. TMII is in East Jakarta, thus, you only need to drive through Jagorawi Toll Road and exit at TMII (km 5). Then you will see many signs directing you to the main gate of Taman Mini Indonesia Indah.
There is something unique in TMII, the gates open from 7am-10pm daily, you can go around the park or worship at the church, mosque or temple, but all of the pavilions, museums, theaters, and recreation facilities opens between 9am to 5pm daily. During the month of Ramadhan (fasting month) most of the attractions will close sooner.
First you pay the entrance fee at the gate, both for passengers and the vehicle you use. Then you have to pay additional tickets for each attraction you visit. These fees vary, depending on the attractions.
Taman Mini Indonesia Indah street, Jakarta.
6°18'07.0"S 106°53'03.3"E
Gates:
7am - 10pm daily, Rp 20,000.
Attraction:
9am - 5 pm daily. Additional tickets apply.
Nov 19, 24 11:52 PM
Nov 19, 24 05:22 AM
Nov 18, 24 09:27 PM