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Front view of National Museum of Indonesia.

A must-see for any history buff passing through Jakarta, the National Museum of Indonesia offers a solid introduction to Indonesia’s cultural diversity through displays that encompass everything from musical instruments and textiles to weaponry. An impressive collection of ancient Hindu-Buddhist statuary, largely acquired from sites across the islands of Java and Sumatra, are arranged around the peristyle of the historic old wing. Renovations completed in 2018 have given a much-needed update to some of the galleries, though there remains plenty of room for improvement (the miniscule labels can be hard to read).
We advise taking the elevator to the fourth floor of the new National Museum of Indonesia wing to visit the treasure room, a no-photography zone housing priceless gold and silver artifacts such as items from the ninth-century Wonoboyo hoard and traditional regalia looted from local princes by colonial Dutch armies. It’s also home to what is perhaps the finest classical Javanese sculpture ever found: an image of Buddhist goddess Prajnaparamita that was repatriated in 1978 by the Netherlands, where it was held for over a century and a half. —James Louie
<a href="https://www.museumnasional.or.id/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">museumnasional.or.id</a> 
+62 21 386 8172 
<a href="https://goo.gl/maps/6xbgyviPjHkidTGw6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat No. 12, Gambir, Jakarta, Indonesia</a>

National Museum of Indonesia: Comprehensive Culture