Have you ever been to the South Square of Yogyakarta palace? There you will find a large field identical to 2 large fenced banyan trees and also a cultural heritage building that is very distinctive in the style of the palace’s building. That is Sasana Hinggil. Sasana Hinggil means high ground. This building is on the north side of Alun-alun Kidul, with a sturdy white fence with a name sign that reads Sasana Hinggil Dwi Abad on the front porch. The name Dwi Abad is seen from the age of the building itself is more than two centuries, because its construction began during the reign of Sultan Hamengkubuwono I about 1755-1792.
Historically, this place was used as a place for the King to watch the rehearsal of soldiers in preparation for the Gerebeg ceremony. In addition, this place is also known as a place for humans to fight tigers (known as rampogan).
As time goes by, Sasana Hinggil as the cultural heritage was used as a place for showing art performances. If you want to watch the puppets shows performance that is usually favored by Yogyakarta residents, you can visit this building every Saturday in the second week of every month. Sasana Hinggil holds a puppet show performance all night long, starting at 21.00 p.m until 05.30 a.m. This is where you can get to know Javanese culture, the puppet show whose stories usually tell wayang stories sourced from old books such as Ramayana, Mahabarata, Pustaka Raja Purwa and Purwakanda.
Because of this performance is carried out in an open space, it is better if you bring a jacket and a mat to sit on, because usually the people of Yogyakarta see the puppet by sitting on the floor (sitting on the ground).
