The modern provincial capital of Jambi consists of the old, pre-war centrer, seat of the former sultanate Jambi, and the new governmental centre in Telanaipura (City of prince Telanai) just west of it. The population, about 300,000 inhabitants, is ethnically very mixed: Malay, Minangkabau, Arabs, Chinese, Banjarese, Buginese and Jawanese. Jambi is an important tide harbour with a growing economy (oil, wood, rubber).
A part of the population lives on rafts (just like in Palembang) on the Batang Hari near Solok Sipin, just west of the city and not too far away from the modern business district are traditional pile dwellings. On the location of the former
istana, the palace of the sultan, a new mosque was constructed, the Mayang Mangurai, offers a permanent exhibition of ethnographical objects. The Provincial Museum owns a small but interesting collection of archeological objects from Jambi with several bronze objects, among them a
dipalaksmi tempellight in extraordinary late Cola style (South India), found at the shore of downstream Batang Hari.
Muara Jambi
The old harbour area with it's
candi and
menapo (masonry temples and channels) is over 1,500 hectares and is about 26 kilometres downstream from the modern capital on the other (northern) shore of the river. This biggest archeological complex of Sumatera, with a small but very interesting museum, can be reached from Jambi by water bus or chartered speedboat.
The full size of the location and the connected river villages is not known yet. The restauration of the three most important structures - Candi Tinggi, Candi Gumpung and Candi Kedaton, the last with a core of unusual small river stones - has been completed. Under the findings in Muara Jambi is an exeptional nice Prajnaparamita statue, without head, comparable with the one in the National Museum in Jakarta from the beginning of the 13th century. Under the pressure of the ever closing agriculture the excavations and restaurations continue in a race against time.
Probably Muara Jambi was attacked and destroyed around 1377. Following a legend the last ruler of Jambi, prince Telanai, got the prediction that his son would cast bad luck over his principalty. Big fear got him, and when his son was eventually born, he was put in a coffin with a letter, and thrown into the sea. The coffin washed ashore in Siam, where the former ruler adopted the Sumateran prince. Eventually the young prince returned to Jambi with a big army from Siam, killed his father and looted the city.
Whether this story is true can be doubted, but fact is that Jambi was the location of the findings of Siamese bronze buddha statues. Above all excavations inMuara Jambi showed a piece of a stone Sukhothai buddha, which originated from the current Thailand as well.
Ahead downstream, near the mouth of Kuala Niur, a southern branch of Batang Hari, is the village of Nipah Panjang. From here, the speedboat takes you to Pulau Berhala in about 45 minutes.
This island had nice white beaches and fishing villages, which are similar with the ones on Bangka and Belitung. It's dominated by a twohundred metre high hill, which was used as orientationpoint by ships for a long time; it's on Chinese seamaps from the 15th century.
Trips to the inlands
Since the completion of most parts of the Trans Sumatera highway, including a 210 kilometres long turn from Muara Bungo to the east, the pavement of 260 kilometres of the route from Palembang towards the south, the city of Jambi is not that isolated anymore. With the completion of the road from Jambi via Rengat to Pekanbaru the connection with the province of Riau is not a problem anymore as well.
Several interesting places of interest are to be found in the environment of Bangko, whish is south of Muara Bungo along the Trans Sumatera highway. The village of Rantau Panjang, 30 kilometres north of Bangko, has several traditional houses, decorated with motives in black, white and red. In the neighborhood is a number of old, islamic graves.
Just outside the mosque in Karang Berahi, about 25 kilometres east of Bangko, is an Oldmalay stone inscription in Tamil Grantha writing. This dates back to the year Saka 608 (buddhist calendar), or 686 AD. The bottom part of the stone is made into an edge. Here, the holy water for ceremonies collected, which was used by leaders afterwards.
