Tiger Tales

Spirit Houses

It first glance, sprawling and chaotic Jakarta may look intimidating. Yet there are tiny islands of tranquillity that hark back to the city’s past while also highlighting its cosmopolitan present.

Geraja Sion, also known as the Portuguese Church, is Jakarta’s oldest Christian place of worship. Dating back to the late 17th century, it was constructed with the aim of attracting slaves of Bengali, Gujerati and Malay origin, who would’ve had to convert from Catholicism to Protestantism and worship in Portuguese, which was the only language that bound them.

Farther north lies 264-year- old Tugu Church. There’s something almost Amish in the way that local residents hung on to traditional clothing customs, sprinkled their language with Portuguese and showed great pride in their music – keroncong – in the face of Dutch power and rising Indonesian nationalism at the turn of the 20th century. The church’s appeal lies in its simplicity. A single-storey building nearly hidden from view by trees, the structure’s whitewashed walls house a cosy congregation of a few dozen worshippers.

Quaint is a word that’s rarely used in connection with Jakarta but it’s apt when it comes to the pocket-sized Anglican Church, better known as the All Saints Church. An oft-repeated story tells of a World War II-era prisoner of the Japanese who somehow found time to make the church’s stained-glass windows.

The church is also the final resting place of Walter Beckett, a true child of the British Empire. He was born in Agra, the site of the Taj Mahal, in 1864 and ended his days in Batavia (the name by which Jakarta was once known) as Great Britain’s first consul general. Originally laid to rest at the European Cemetery, Beckett’s tomb was moved to this church when the cemetery fell victim to Jakarta’s growth.

The Immanuel Church, open since 1839, boasts classical influences in the form of its porticos and Corinthian columns. Oddly enough, the architect was a pawn shop operator who had no formal training and had never been to Europe. During World War II, the Japanese used the church as a temple where the ashes of fallen soldiers were kept.

Even in a city as buzzing as Jakarta, there’s no shortage of places where one can rest in peace.

GETTING AROUND

Blue Bird and Silver Bird taxis are reliable and recommended. If a caretaker has to open a church for you, it’s polite to tip him INR10,000- 20,000 ($1 to $3).

FIND IT:

● Geraja Sion, 1 Jln Pangeran Jayakarta, Kota
● Tugu Church, Jln Raya Tugu, Tugu, North Jakarta
● Anglican Church, 5 Jln Arief Rachman Hakim, Menteng
● Immanuel Church, Jln Medan Merdeka Timor, Opposite Gambir Railway Station

WHERE TO STAY

The four-star Aryaduta Hotel is located opposite the Anglican Church. Budget accommodation can be had on Jalan Jaksa, just a short walk from the same church.