Gardens in Java

Gardens in Java is another book by Denys Lombard, which completes a series of his writings about Java that we can read now. In his study in the area, which he named "Javanized area", from the western tip of Java Island until the eastern tip of lombok Island, he had visited and studied no less than 6 locations of gardens. There he can see that gardens as place for pleasur are the integrated part of the history and civilization of the royal courts in Java between 17th- l91h centuries AD.
Gardens in Java is presented as an inheritance that contains details of forms and lay-outs of their parts. Their architectures and artistic styles show how Javanese architecs and artists combined Javanese tradition and cultural elements from other places like China, India, and Europe. Furthermore, the meanings of Gardens in Java are revealed in holistic and rich fashions, after its author discussed gardens in the contexts of textual sources, as well as stories in reliefs in temples or shadows puppets. Gardens become a unique phenomenon in royal courts, which contain not only aesthetical values but also rich in micro-cosmos symbols when prtraying the earth and water.
The manuscript of Gardens in Java was handed to us by the Ecole Fram;aise d'Extreme-Orient (EFEO) as the realization of its cooperation with the National Research and Development Centre of Archaelogy in the field of publication. We thank the EFEO office in Jakarta, which has enabled this manuscript to be published. This work-that was translated into English by John Norman Micksic from its original language, which is broadness and depth of its discussion have kept Gardens in Java actual. In Addition, this book is not aimed merely at academicians but also ordinary people who ate interested in the garden sites in Java, because an expert will guide them through this book.