Mid-Autumn Festival at Candra Naya
Indonesia is a tropical country with only two seasons within a year: summer and rainy. That means, there’s no autumn in Jakarta and surely, there will never be. But in this multicultural megapolitan, you can easily meet people coming from various races. Peranakan Chinese is one of them.
Mid-autumn festival is commonly celebrated by Chinese community anywhere in the world. For Jakarta, the celebration held in early October this year was the first time.
The two-day event took place in Candra Naya, a historical house preserved by local government as a cultural and architectural heritage. After its renovation – finished in the middle of this year – the old house is now open for public. I considered myself lucky for being there not long after its public opening. In fact, it was my first visit. I love Candra Naya’s simple architecture and interior details. To see all those for very first time, I tended to enjoy the architecture; hence, did not put much attention to the event.
A walkway between the main building and its left wing
The front door of the main building
The front door of the main building
Inside the main building
There’s a small pool at the backyard full of koi fishes
The show’s audiences
One of the shows: modern dance by school kids
Red lanterns were everywhere during the festival
One of the festival’s agenda: photo exhibition
The façade of the main building
Candra Naya is actually a complex comprises a main building, a left-wing building, and a right-wing building. Right behind it is an apartment and the apartment’s open lobby precisely becomes the main building’s front yard. Anyone can go to the apartment by three ways: walking through the main building, walking via one of the two walkways, or via any of the sky walks which are available above the walkways. Yep, it’s quite complicated and crowded architectural complex. But I’m glad that in the end the local government chose to preserve Candra Naya instead of giving it up to the apartment’s developer.
Delightful post.,and pictures.Jalal
Thank you Jalal.. glad you like it 🙂
Thank you Karmela for liking my poem (l wish you know) all the best.jalal
I love the words 🙂
I enjoyed this beautiful tour of your country.
I’m glad you enjoyed it, ShimonZ. But what I posted on my blog are just some small pieces of Jakarta, the capital city of my country 🙂 Thanks and have a nice day!