Imogiri (also Imagiri) is a royal graveyard complex in Yogyakarta, south-central Java, Indonesia, as well as a modern village located near the graveyard in Bantul regency. Yogyakarta, Indonesia Kraton, The Sultan Palace Yogyakarta (also Jogjakarta or Jogja) is a city and province on the island of Java, Indonesia. ... Map of Java Java (Indonesian, Javanese, and Sundanese: Jawa) is an island of Indonesia, and the site of its capital city, Jakarta. ...

Imogiri is a traditional resting place for the royalty of central Java, including many rulers of the Sultanate of Mataram and of the modern Sultanate of Yogyakarta. Mataram was the last major independent Javanese empire on Java before the island was colonized by the Dutch. ... Yogyakarta, Indonesia Kraton, The Sultan Palace Yogyakarta (also Jogjakarta or Jogja) is a city and province on the island of Java, Indonesia. ...

Role and importance

The graveyard was constructed by Sultan Agung of Mataram in the later years of his reign, probably in the 1640's.

The graveyard is a significant pilgrimage ziarah site, particularly on significant dates in the Javanese calendar (such as Satu Suro, New Years Day), and the Islamic calendar. Ziarah is an Islamic grave visiting tradition common throughout the countries where holy and sacred graves attract pilgrimage and calendrically appropriate visits. ... The Islamic calendar or Muslim calendar (also called Hijri calendar) is the calendar used to date events in predominantly Muslim countries, and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which to celebrate Muslim holy days. ...

It also belongs to a larger network of significant locations in Javanese pilgrimage traditions. It is possibly the only major location remaining in Java where the Palaces of Surakarta and Yogyakarta have personnel manning a jointly administered royal graveyard. The city of Solo, formally known as Surakarta, 65 kilometers (40 miles) northeast of Yogyakarta and slightly further southeast of Semarang in Java, Indonesia, was a center of power during the Mataram Kingdom. ... Yogyakarta, Indonesia Kraton, The Sultan Palace Yogyakarta (also Jogjakarta or Jogja) is a city and province on the island of Java, Indonesia. ...

Among the site's most prominent graves are that of early Mataram ruler Sultan Agung of Mataram, and Sultan of Yogyakarta Hamengkubuwono IX, a leader during Indonesia's war for independence. ...

Construction

The Imogiri complex is separated into three parts, named Giriloyo, Banyusumurup and Imogiri. Traditionally it is accepted that Giriloyo was the earliest of the three graveyards.

In some local folklore, Sultan Agung had commenced work on his own graveyard at Giriloyo - but because his uncle Juminah died at the graveyard, Agung was guided by various portents to choose his graveyard on a hill some three kilometres to the southwest, at Imogiri.

A later ruler, needing to bury outcasts in a graveyard separate from Giriloyo and Imogiri, chose Banyusumurup as an appropriate site. However it is possible to find rivals and enemies within Javanese royal families buried within metres of each other inside the walls of Imogiri.

Layout

Many travel accounts, tourist guides and references to Imogiri imply a simple single whole. On closer examination the graveyard has more complexity within its structure.

The complex is divided in two ways. First, there are separate Yogyakartan and Surakartan sections. Second, the whole graveyard is divided into eight sections which constitute three generations of ruler in each section. Some are jointly governed by custodians (Juru Kunci) from Surakarta and Yogyakarta, while some are governed by representatives of one of these palaces only.

The original area within the Imogiri graveyard is that area with Sultan Agung's grave - it is jointly governed. The western wing of the graveyard is the Surakartan section, while the eastern wing is the Yogyakartan section.

Not all rulers of the Sultanate of Mataram are buried in the Imogiri complex; there are a number of rulers who are buried elsewhere in Java. Some immediate families of rulers were also buried in Imogiri, but not all; this was dependent upon each ruler's preferences.

Printed lists of the burial plots within the royal graveyard complex are maintained for Imogiri to provide guidance for researchers looking for a specific gravesite. This process is sometimes complicated by the multiple names some individuals were known by during their lives.