The Museum of Balla Lompoa

 The Museum of Balla Lompoa

The Museum of Balla Lompoa  is the reconstruction of Gowa palace that was built in 1936 A.D. The 31^st Sultan of Gowa, I Mangngi-mangngi Daeng Matutu, was the king at that time. Balla  Lompoa means big house or grand house in Makassar  language. The precise architecture of Bugis tribe like Panggung House, with  a 2-meter high of ladder leading to the entrance of the terrace, is the main  architecture of the museum. It is made of ulin wood or besi wood.  The Museum of Balla Lompoa stands in a width of a  hectare land bound a high brick fence.

The Museum   of Balla Lompoa comprises  two parts, the main room, 60 x 40 meters wide, and the terrace, 40 x 4.5 meters  in width. There are three parts of the main room, the king’s bedroom, the historical  properties storage, and the working room. Each part is 6 x 5 meters wide. It  has many windows (The exclusive features of Bugis house) which are 0.5 x 0.5  meters in width. 

It is functioned to keep the collections of Gowa Kingdom’s  heritages. The historical properties are displayed based on the general  functions of each room in the museum. An Indonesian map is displayed on the  right wall, in front of the main room. The family tree of the Gowa Kingdom  is also displayed in the main room. It was begun from the first king of Gowa,  Tomanurunga in the 13^th centuries until the last king of Gowa,  Sultan Moch Abdulkadir Aididdin A. Idjo Karaeng Lalongan (1947 A.D.-1957 A.D.).  You can find the throne of Gowa   Kingdom placed in the  center of the main room. The war equipments such as spears and old cannons are  displayed in this room. You will also find the Lalong Sipue umbrella  (The umbrella that was used when the inauguration of Gowa Kings take place) in  this room. The museum has been renovated in 1970 A.D. – 1980 A.D. The local  government of Gowa has been budgeting fund about 25 millions each year to  maintain the museum.

The Museum   of Balla Lompoa keeps  many priceless historical heritages, most of them are made of gold. In  addition, there are precious stones beautified with diamonds and the ruby stones.  There are about 140 collections of priceless historical properties such as  crown, bracelet, button, Keris. The weights of the heritages are about  700 grams up to a kilogram. There is a cone (The five leaves of lotus) king  crown beautified with 250 grams of diamonds in the king’s bedroom. The weight  of the crown is 1.768 grams. Tataparang (The golden keris) which  is 986.5 grams in weight, 51 centimeters in length and 13 centimeters wide is also  kept in this room. It was the gift of Demak Kingdom.  10 spears, seven lontara texts, and two handwriting of Al-Qur’an made in 1848  are also kept in the Museum   of Balla Lompoa.

Where Museum of Balla Lompoa Location?

The Museum of Balla Lompoa is on Sultan Hasanuddin Street 48^th Sungguminasa, Somba Opu sub-district, Gowa district, South   Sulawesi province.The Museum of Balla Lompoa is located in Sungguminasa, Somba Opu  sub-district, in the district of Gowa, which is directly bordered with Makassar city. It can be reached by private vehicles or  any type of public transportation. The accommodation provided by the Museum of Balla Lompoa  is guide service telling you information relating to the museum and all of the  heritages kept within.