Garuda Indonesia Colours Magazine November 2016 | Page 107

Travel | Semarang

5 Senses – Sight
KLENTENG AGUNG
SAM POO KONG
Klenteng Agung Sam Poo Kong is
surely one of the most spellbindingly
colourful temples in Asia. It is believed
to have been a place of worship since
the Chinese Muslim explorer Zheng
He arrived in Semarang about 600
years ago. Sam Poo Kong is the biggest
temple in Semarang and, in keeping
with Zheng He’s beliefs, even today
remains a place of worship for
Buddhists as well as for Muslims.
Klenteng Agung Sam Poo Kong tentu
merupakan salah satu kuil warna-warni
paling memukau di Asia. Tempat itu
diyakini menjadi tempat ibadah sejak
penjelajah muslim Tiongkok, Zheng He,
tiba di Semarang sekitar 600 tahun lalu.
Sam Poo Kong adalah kuil terbesar di
Semarang, dan sesuai dengan keyakinan
Zheng He, hingga kini tetap menjadi
tempat ibadah bagi umat Buddha
maupun Islam.

105

Lawang Sewu was occupied
by Japanese forces during
the war and then by the
Indonesian military after
independence until
eventually it was
abandoned altogether.

Once a bustling edifice where hundreds
of office workers clacked noisily at typewriters
and telegraph machines, this is now one
of Semarang’s most evocative corners.
On a weekend morning, quietly chatting groups
of local sightseers sit in the shade of a towering
mango tree. Behind a subtle fringe of yellow
frangipanis, the shady walkways that run along
the front of what were once offices staffed by
countless railway clerks provide even cooler
shelter. It was built in what the Dutch called
their New Indies style but, with its whitewashed
Arabic-style arches and Moorish-style towers,
it is easy to imagine that you are on the
southern Mediterranean coast anywhere
from Tripoli to Tangier.
The name Lawang Sewu – meaning ‘Thousand
Doors’ – no doubt rolled off the tongue easier
than the official Administratiegebouw
Nederlands-Indische Spoorweg Maatschappij
that was in use when the building first opened
in 1907. There are, in fact, considerably fewer
than 1,000 doors here (although there are about

The 99m-high observation deck of Asmaul Husna Tower
boasts views over the whole city.
Klenteng Agung Sam Poo Kong is surely one of the most
spellbindingly colourful temples in Asia.
Tay Kak Sie temple, dating back to 1746, is one of the
lesser known of Semarang’s many historical sites.

600 windows), but, as the headquarters of
the first Dutch East Indies railway company,
this sprawling complex was one of the most
impressive buildings in the Dutch empire.
Lawang Sewu was occupied by Japanese forces
during the war and then by the Indonesian
military after independence until eventually
it was abandoned altogether. By the time the
building was 100 years old, it had fallen into
near ruin. It was renovated and opened its doors
as Semarang’s premier tourist sight in 2011.
While it is pleasant to sit in the grounds,
the building itself is impressive and houses a
collection of vintage artefacts from the golden
age of rail travel. It remains a romantic place
to explore, and mysterious stories surround the
complex. The basement of one office complex
is apparently kept flooded to cool the building
through evaporation, but there are those who
give a different explanation for the notable
chill in the air. Some say that Lawang Sewu
is haunted by a whole spectrum of spectres,
including a suicidal Dutchwoman, a pontianak
(a woman who died in childbirth) and what are
described airily as ‘a series of headless ghouls’.
Rumour has it that there was also once an
underground escape route that led from here to
the governor’s mansion and even to the harbour
(unlikely at a distance of almost four kilometres).
Not far from Lawang Sewu, you find what the
locals refer to as ‘Kota Lama’, a peaceful quarter
where cycle rickshaws are still the preferred
mode of transport around the cobbled alleyways
and shady canal-side lanes. Blenduk Church, at
the centre of the quarter, was built in 1753 and,