History of Gamelan Sari Oneng Parakansalak Sukabumi Indonesia
By: Sukabumi Update
Tags: Gamelan, Art, History, Indonesia, Sukabumi

Whose Status Does the Gamelan Sari Oneng Parakansalak Sukabumi Indonesia Own?

The existence of Gamelan Sari Oneng Parakansalak, Sukabumi, which is now stored in the collection of the Prabu Geusan Ulun Museum.

The discourse of a number of Sukabumi artists and historians who want Gamelan Sari Oneng Parakansalak to return to Sukabumi seems to have encountered various obstacles. One of them is about the clarity of the ownership status of the gamelan.

The question is, whose Gamelan Sari Oneng Parakansalak belongs to? Does it belong to the Prabu Geusan Ulun Museum, the foundation, the government or the successor family of R.A.A Soeria Danuningrat? Take a look at sukabumiupdate.com’s search which tries to uncover the following puzzle of Gamelan Sari Oneng Parakansalak’s ownership.

The tour guide for the Prabu Geusan Ulun Museum, who is already an elderly named Abdul Sukur (68 years old), tells that the ownership of the Gamelan Sari Oneng Parakansalak, which originally belonged to the Parakansalak administrator, namely Adriian Walrafenholle until his successor MOA Hugguenin, presented the gamelan to the second Sukabumi Regent at that time, RAA Soeria Danuningrat.

After R.A.A Soeria Danuningrat passed away around 1975, by the heir, namely Soeria Danuningrat’s extended family, the gamelan was brought to Bandung first before finally being brought and deposited in Sumedang.

“That’s the story of his grandchildren Soeria Danuningrat, he said, when he was taken to Dipati Ukur, Bandung, he was finally left here until now,” said Abdul to sukabumiupdate.com at the Prabu Geusan Ulun Museum, Sumedang Regency, West Java.

Abdul suspected that even when he was entrusted to the museum, there was no official event such as the handover of the gamelan between the family and the Prabu Geusan Ulun Sumedang Museum.

“This (gamelan, red) is now one of the collections in our museum. Gamelan originating from Sukabumi. For example, if this gamelan was entrusted, there is an heir, namely the Soeria Danuningrat family. “I don’t know whether it is still in Sumedang, in Bandung or in Sukabumi. What is clear is that if you want to ask about this discourse, you should discuss it with the foundation because the Prabu Geusan Ulun Museum is under the foundation,” he explained.

Meanwhile, according to Museum Curator Prabu Geusan Ulun Ahmad Iqbal (36 years), for the formal status of the Gamelan Sari Oneng Parakansalak, his party also does not know who the gamelan belongs to.

“As for the status of formal property rights, we don’t know yet. But according to the story, the gamelan belongs to the big family of RAA Soeria Danuningrat or we usually call it Dalem Gelung (long-haired person who likes to be coiled, red),” said the man who is familiarly called Eq at His office at the Prabu Geusan Ulun Museum, Sumedang Regency, West Java.

Eq admitted that his party had only accepted the existence of the Gamelan Sari Oneng Parakansalak since 1975 and the gamelan was included in the collection of the Prabu Geusan Ulun Museum.

“History has arrived here too, we are still looking for it,” said Eq.

Eq does not have proof of the handover between the Soeria Danuningrat family and the Prabu Geusan Ulun Museum. “I am confused, to be honest, we don’t know the status of the gamelan, it must be asked of the family. I myself question the truth of the gamelan’s status as being granted, entrusted, gifted or something,” said Eq.

Separately, the Head of Arts, West Java Disparbud, Dudi Hariadi said, his party did not know for sure about the status or property rights of the Gamelan Sari Oneng Parakansalak.

“Regarding the status and property rights of Gamelan Sari Oneng Parakansalak, please ask the Sumedang Regency Disparbudpora. We, the West Java Provincial Government, only facilitate all things that are needed by the Sumedang Regency Government such as the need for arts events and arts and cultural performances,” said Dudi when met by Sukabumiupdate.com at the West Java Disparbud Office, Jalan RE. Martadinata, Bandung City, West Java.

Meanwhile, when asked about the status and property rights of Gamelan Sari Oneng Parakansalak, the Head of Culture, Disparbudpora of Sumedang Regency, Ade Rohana explained that he himself was less aware of the clarity of status than the Gamelan Sari Oneng Parakansalak.

“What is clear is that the gamelan is maintained by the Nazir Wakaf Pangeran Sumedang Foundation (YNWPS). The Prabu Geusan Ulun Museum belongs to Yayaysan. The Sumedang Regency Government does not claim that the gamelan belongs to the Sumedang Regency Government,” explained Ade to sukabumiupdate.com, at the Sumedang Regency Disparbudpora office, Jalan Prabu Geusan Ulun, Sumedang Regency, West Java.

When conducting a search for Gamelan Sari Oneng Parakansalak in Sumedang Regency, sukabumiupdate.com was assisted by a journalist named Kurniawan from local media Radar Sumedang. Kurniawan said that the status and ownership of the gamelan were the family property of R.A.A Soeria Danuningrat.

“The heir really does exist in the family successor of R.A.A Soeria Danuningrat,” said Kurniawan to sukabumiupdate.com in Sumedang.

Kurniawan’s statement was also strengthened by the Chairman of the Dapuran Kipahare Foundation and the Head of Research and History Soekabumi Heritages, Irman Sufi Firmansyah, who said that the ownership status of Gamelan Sari Oneng Parakansalak belongs to the family of R.A.A Soeria Danuningrat.

“The status is entrusted, so it can be taken again? Unfortunately, the government, in this case, the Sukabumi Regency Government (Pemkab), did not participate in helping or playing a role in the effort to restore this gamelan,” said Irman to sukabumiupdate.com in a previous interview.

This was reinforced by the statement of one of the grandchildren of R.A.A Soeria Danuningrat named Rangga Surya Danuningrat. He admitted that the status of Gamelan Sari Oneng Parakansalak belongs to the right of the family heir of R.A.A Soeria Danungingrat. He also confirmed that the gamelan had been deposited at the Prabu Geusan Ulun Sumedang Museum since 1975.

“The status of property rights belonging to the extended family of R.A.A Soeira Danuningrat, the inheritors of the children of R.A.A Soeria Danuningrat,” said Rangga to sukabumiupdate.com.

He added, in 1975 in December after the death of R.A.A Soeria Danuningrat, Gamelan Sari Oneng Parakansalak was brought from Sukabumi to Sumedang to be entrusted to the Prabu Geusan Ulun Museum. At that time, the gamelan handover was carried out by the heirs of the family, represented by Gumira Suwargana Surya Danuningrat.

“Gumira is my father’s brother who entrusted the gamelan to the Prabu Geusan Ulun Sumedang Museum. The reason is that the founder of the Pangeran Sumedang Foundation, which is the parent of the museum, consists of three people, one of whom is my grandfather R.A.A Soeria Danuningrat,” he explained.

He claimed that his family still had and kept handwritten evidence or a letter of handover between the family and the YPS at that time. He added, including the plaque and the information printed on the Gamelan Sari Oneng Parakansalak which was kept at the Prabu Geusan Ulun Museum, it also stated that the gamelan was entrusted by the family of R.A.A Soeria Danuningrat to the King Geusan Ulun Sumedang Museum.

“Not only the gamelan is left there, but we also leave a number of other items, there are regents’ clothes and others. At the Prabu Geusan Ulun Museum, there are three ways to store goods there, which can be entrusted, donated or handed over. Gamelan Sari Oneng Parakansalak was entrusted, we still have proof of the handover letter,“ he concluded.