Rattan furniture continues to be one of the most popular sources for interior design. Through adaptability and durability, rattan furniture adds options and class to homes across every continent. Poised at the front of this industry is Rattan Land Furniture, a quality reliable company in Indonesia that serves customers all over the world.

What is Rattan?

Rattan itself is the name for nearly 600 varieties of palm trees, and can be found mainly in the areas of Africa, Asia, and Australasia. Most of the world's rattan population comes from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Bangladesh. It is as lightweight as it is durable, and even offers some degree of flexibility, which makes rattan furniture the easy, breezy choice for home decoration.

Wholesalers, retailers and distributors can look towards purchasing high quality furniture at affordable prices. Raw materials are abundant in these countries, and labor is cheaper. Hence, it is possible for these countries to manufacture furniture and sell them at much lower prices.

Buying at a lower cost per unit means higher profit margins, which can only benefit the business. Stay abreast of recent home improvement industry news and try to spot trends. A businessman with acute business acumen should be able to predict trends and import the right type of furniture accordingly
sumber : www.tropica-furniture.com; www.articlesbase.com

Angklung is a musical instrument made out of two bamboo tubes attached to a bamboo frame. The tubes are carved so that they have a resonant pitch when struck. The two tubes are tuned to octaves. The base of the frame is held with one hand while the other hand shakes the instrument rapidly from side to side. This causes a rapidly repeating note to sound. Thus each of three or more angklung performers in an ensemble will play just one note and together complete melodies are produced. Angklung is popular throughout Southeast Asia, but originated from Indonesia (used and played by the Sundanese since the ancient times).

Angklung is a renowned musical instrument made of bamboo and its originated is West Java, Indonesia. In the early days, music played an essential part of ceremonial activities, especially in the harvest times. The sound of bamboos is believed will catch the attention of the goddess Sri – who will bring fertility to the plantation, and pass the joy and happiness for mankind.

The oldest Angklung in history that still exist is called Angklung Gubrag made in Jasinga, Bogor, and has reached 400 years of age. Nowadays, some of those older Angklung remain in Sri Baduga Museum, Bandung.

As the time flown by, Angklung is not only recognized throughout Indonesia, also, spreading to other Asian countries.
In the late of 20th century, Daeng Soetigna created Angklung based on diatonic tone scale. Ever since then, Angklung has been used in entertainment business as well it is even able to play diverse genres of music. And In 1966, Udjo Ngalagena a student of Mr. Daeng Soetigna developed Angklung based on traditional Sundanese tone scale Salendro, Pelog and Madenda.

Current days, many contemporary and young musicians compose music through the brilliant sound of bamboo.

Further reading
* Balinese Music (1991) by Michael Tenzer, Periplus / University of Washington Press .
* Can You Shake It? The Angklung of Southeast Asia by Prof. Kuo-Huang Han, School of Music, Northern Illinois University

www.wikipedia.org; www.angklung-udjo.co.id

Indonesian antique furniture - Many people come to Bali specifically to purchase furnishings and accessories for their homes. The premium items that you see featured in our catalogue are the collaboration of top international designers and skilled Indonesian craftsmen. Much of this stylish, high-quality furniture is designed in-house; it is often custom made and is very much in demand by five-star hotels.

Overall, the concept blends Oriental, tropical and minimalist design. Many of the traditional furniture designs are Dutch inspired Javanese, enhanced with whimsical charm and often embellished with intricate hand carvings of flowers and birds. The teak timber comes from Java, from youngish trees 20-30 years old. The product of mature trees is rare, expensive and environmentally unacceptable as it is not a sustainable resource.

However, some of our rustic pieces that have been fashioned from old teak planks salvaged from demolished buildings of the Dutch Colonial era. The natural colour of teakwood is a richly grained golden brown, but it can also be tinted by applications of oil, or stained to suit the distressed patina and heavier antique style. One of the beneficial properties of genuine teak is that it is resistant to termites.

'Christophoras' is an extraordinarily beautiful, richly grained, teak dining table, which focuses on the natural splendour of the material through the craftsmanship of a solid top fashioned from a single piece of wood. The table's well-balanced, simple yet sophisticated design combines sensuality, proportion and exotic contours, enhanced by masterful joinery. This product is an exquisite piece of furniture that is durable, enduring and conceived to become vintage.
www.jack-furniture.blogspot.co; wwwarticlesbase.com

Silver is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag (Latin: argentum, from the Ancient Greek: ἀργήεντος - argēentos, gen. of ἀργήεις - argēeis, "white, shining" ) and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal. The metal occurs naturally in its pure, free form (native silver), as an alloy with gold (electrum) and other metals, and in minerals such as argentite and chlorargyrite. Most silver is produced as a by-product of copper, gold, lead, and zinc refining.

Silver has been known since ancient times and has long been valued as a precious metal, used to make ornaments, jewelry, high-value tableware, utensils (hence the term silverware), and currency coins. Today, silver metal is used in electrical contacts and conductors, in mirrors and in catalysis of chemical reactions. Its compounds are used in photographic film and dilute solutions of silver nitrate and other silver compounds are used as disinfectants. Although the antimicrobial uses of silver have largely been supplanted by the use of antibiotics, further research into its clinical potential is in progress.
he word "silver" appears in Anglo-Saxon in various spellings such as seolfor and siolfor. A similar form is seen throughout the Teutonic languages (compare Old High German silabar and silbir). The chemical symbol Ag is from the Latin for "silver", argentum (compare Greek άργυρος, árgyros), from the Indo-European root *arg- meaning "white" or "shining". Silver has been known since ancient times. It is mentioned in the book of Genesis, and slag heaps found in Asia Minor and on the islands of the Aegean Sea indicate that silver was being separated from lead as early as the 4th millennium BC using surface mining.[6]

In the Gospels, Jesus' disciple Judas Iscariot is infamous for having taken a bribe of thirty coins of silver from religious leaders in Jerusalem to turn Jesus Christ over to the Romans.

Set aside certain circumstances[clarification needed], Islam permits Muslim men to wear silver jewelry. Muhammad himself wore a silver signet ring.
Over the last 100 years the price of silver and the gold/silver price ratio have fluctuated greatly due to competing industrial and store-of-value demands. In 1980 the silver price rose to an all-time high of US$49.45 per troy ounce. By December 2001 the price had dropped to US$4.15 per ounce, and in May 2006 it had risen back as high as US$15.21 per ounce. In March 2008 silver reached US$21.34 per ounce.[34]

The price of silver is important in Judaic Law. The lowest fiscal amount that a Jewish court, or Beth Din, can convene to adjudicate a case over is a shova pruta (value of a Babylonian pruta coin). This is fixed at 1/8 of a gram of pure, unrefined silver, at market price.
www.wikipedia.com
Silver jewelry style from Bali is tending to thicker than others from Jogja, because it’s playing in correctness compile of the motif and form of the three dimension characters. Most of the Bali Silver Jewelry also forms by the solid silver.
Let say the rings or pendants from Bali, We could see that there are made from solid frame silver which carved look like with the Bali ornaments style.
www.articlesbase.com; wwwbalisilvers.com

Pearls have been prized and collected for more than 4000 years, giving them the title of the world's oldest gem.

Pearls have long been treasured and highly valued in many cultures throughout history. As far back as 2300 BC, Chinese records indicate that pearls were the prized possessions of (and gifts to) royalty. In India, ancient Hindu texts repeatedly refer to pearls, stating in one place that the god Krishna discovered the first pearl. In ancient Egypt, mother-of-pearl was used for decorative purposes as far back as 4000 BC, although the use of actual pearls did not come until much later -- perhaps the 5th century BC.
www.pearl-guide.com
PEARL is believed had been known since 3500 AD was considered as “ The God Tears”, it was also called “The Queen of Whole Jewels” and everybody is amazed in its beauty. Nowadays, pearl is become present and collection because it will evoke the pride for the using whereas its sheen gush the aesthetics sense. Pearl is also a symbol of love, chastity and purity, successes and happiness, and humility.
www.lombokpearljewelry.com;www.toko-mutiara.com

Cooper and Brass Handycraft that called GENTONG. It should be interest when we look that. The handycraft made from the brass & cooper have a value, naturaly, good looking. Material, model and size can be ordered later as needed.

Copper Brass statue Arts & handicraft and sought coppery often used either as a garnish or indeed as a symbol. There are a thousand reasons why this material is made of copper are the options that this anti-corrosion of copper (copper can also be said that it will survive eternal), another reason is the natural of the copper provides a unique natural color, another reason is the material with copper or brass if has been used for many - years, the value of unique and antique goods are much higher. With the raw material of copper sheet and then supported by steel framework of the statue will create a strong, beautiful, and this antique.
www.suprametal.indonetwork.net

Batik Pekalongan - Batik is a drawing art above cloth for made clothes technically resist use wax material. The word of batik comes from Javanese. It means to write. Batik's technique has been recognized since thousands of year ago. There is no self explanatory history about batik genesis. There is assumption this technique comes from nation of Sumerian, is later developed by in Java after brought by all merchant of India. Batick, bathik, battik, batique and batiks and also batix is other mention of batik. Now batik can be found in many states like Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka and Iran. Beside in Asia batik is also very popular in some state in the continent of Africa. Even though, very famous batik in world is batik coming is Indonesian and Pekalongan represent icon growth of national batik so that get epithet as BATIK TOWN (see : history growth of batik in Indonesia).

Batik in present day;
In the beginning, batik is represented from Indonesian king family tradition. During the period batik was done only limited, in just palace and the result were for the clothes of family and king and also all its follower. Because of many followers, of king which kept out palace, hence this batik art was brought out palace and done in their place.
In its growth, batik which first is Java feudalism symbol caused by batik for family and king and also for public, soon and later, the batik's art is called Batik Drawn (Batik Tulis). It is imitated by closest people and spread out to common people which is very liked, by men & women. Usually batik is only made above the white cotton and it is calico. Nowadays batik which have been become a traditional Indonesian's cloth, is also made from other materials like silky, polyester, materials and rayon of other synthetic. Anyway, there is a change how to make it. Besides batik drawn, there is also batik motif which is formed by hand, even; nowadays there are batik cap, batik printing, batik painting and sablon.
www.batikmarkets.com; www.ciputatbisnis.com

balinese wood carving - Yogis are holy men and great mystics, many of whom also possess the gift of prophecy. A yogi is a person proficient in yoga. An example of a yogi is Pramanhansa Yogananda. Born Mukunda Lal Ghosh on Jan 5, 1893 in the northern Indian city of Gorakhpur. Died Mar 7, 1952 in Los Angeles, USA. From the age of seventeen, he was trained in the yoga discipline by Swami Sri Yukteswar for ten years. Pramahansa considered his gurus as avatara. He was conferred with the Swami order in 1915, after graduating from the University of Calcutta. He founded a ‘how to live’ school for boys where yoga spiritual training was combined with modern educational methods. He went to the United States, founded a society called Self-Realization Fellowship in 1920 and five years later he settled in Los Angeles. He popularized a form of yoga called Kriya Yoga. He is well known for his ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’ and an English translation of ‘The Bhagavad Gita’. In his autobiography, he refers to the part of the brain above and between the eyes as the ‘Christ consciousness center’. His disciples have deified him as an avatar.
www.balifurnish.com

The kris or keris is a distinctive, asymmetrical dagger indigenous to Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Southern Thailand and the southern Philippines. Both a weapon and spiritual object, krisses are often considered to have an essence or presence, with some blades possessing good luck and others possessing bad.

In 2005, UNESCO gave the title Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity to Kris of Indonesia.

The term keris had a Javanese origin, although the etymology is uncertain. The term "keris" may have originated from the old Javanese word ngiris which means "to slab", "to wedge" or "to sliver." Kris is a European rendering of this Javanese term.

As noted by Frey (2003), kris is the more frequently used term in the Western world. The term "keris" is more popular in the native lands of the dagger, as exemplified by the title of a popular Javanese keris book entitled the "Ensiklopedi Keris" (Keris Encyclopedia), written by the late Bambang Harsrinuksmo. Some collectors prefer keris, others kris. Other spellings used by European colonists include "cryse," "crise," "criss," and "creese."

The Kris is also loosely used to differentiate between the Moro kris swords found in Southern Philippines and the kris daggers found everywhere else in the archipelago.
www.wikipedia.org

Wayang is an Indonesian word for theatre (literally "shadow") When the term is used to refer to kinds of puppet theater, sometimes the puppet itself is referred to as wayang. ", the Javanese word for shadow or imagination, also connotes "spirit." Performances of shadow puppet theater are accompanied by gamelan in Java, and by "gender wayang" in Bali.

UNESCO designated Wayang Kulit, a shadow puppet theater and the best known of the Indonesian wayang, as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity on 7 November 2003.

History of Wayang Kulit
Wayang shadow-puppet (Bali, early 20th century)

Wayang is a generic term denoting traditional theatre in Indonesia. There is no evidence that wayang existed before Hinduism came to Southeast Asia sometime in the first century CE. However, there very well may have been indigenous storytelling traditions that had a profound impact on the development of the traditional puppet theatre. The first record of a wayang performance is from an inscription dated 930 CE which says "si Galigi mawayang," or "Sir Galigi played wayang". From that time till today it seems certain features of traditional puppet theatre have remained. Galigi was an itinerant performer who was requested to perform for a special royal occasion. At that event he performed a story about the hero Bhima from the Mahabharata.

Hinduism arrived in Indonesia from India even before the Christian era, and was slowly adopted as the local belief system. Sanskrit became the literary and court language of Java and later of Bali. The Hindus changed the Wayang (as did the Muslims, later) to spread their religion, mostly by stories from the Mahabharata or the Ramayana. Later this mixture of religion and wayang play was praised as harmony between Hinduism and traditional Indonesian culture. On Java, the western part of Sumatra and some smaller islands traditionalists continued to play the old stories for some time, but the influence of Hinduism prevailed and the traditional stories either fell into oblivion or were integrated into the Hinduistic plays.

The figures of the wayang are also present in the paintings of that time, for example, the roof murals of the courtroom in Klungkung, Bali. They are still present in traditional Balinese painting today.

When Islam began spreading in Indonesia, the display of God or gods in human form was prohibited, and thus this style of painting and shadow play was suppressed. King Raden Patah of Demak, Java, wanted to see the wayang in its traditional form, but failed to obtain permission from the Muslim religious leaders. As an alternative, the religious leaders converted the wayang golek into wayang purwa made from leather, and displayed only the shadow instead of the figures itself.[citation needed] Instead of the forbidden figures only their shadow picture was displayed, the birth of the wayang kulit.[citation needed]

The figures are painted, flat woodcarvings (a maximum of 5 to 15 mm thick -- barely half an inch) with movable arms. The head is solidly attached to the body. Wayang klitik can be used to perform puppet plays either during the day or at night. This type of wayang is relatively rare.

Wayang today is both the most ancient and most popular form of puppet theatre in the world. Hundreds of people will stay up all night long to watch the superstar performers, dalang, who command extravagant fees and are international celebrities. Some of the most famous dalang in recent history are Ki Nartosabdho, Ki Anom Suroto, Ki Asep Sunarya, Ki Sugino, and Ki Manteb Sudarsono.
www.wikipedia.org

Batik Yogyakarta - At the heart of the Indonesian Batik.

Yogyakarta the capital city of the most powerful and respected Kingdom of Java, is also at the heart of the Batik art. All the old Traditions and customs are observed, as well as in Solo, and one can still find many symbols that are related to Hindu-Javanese culture. The combination of motifs in Yogya batik is unique, and there is a tendency to combine a number of large geometric motifs.

The Grompol motif is a distinctively Yogya design customarily used for wedding ceremonies. Grompol, which means gather together symbolizes the coming together of all goods things, such as luck, happiness, children, and harmonious married life.

Kain Songket Palembang is one of home industry of traditional garment of Indonesia that made by original silk cloth. This kind of textile that belong to Adis Songket has produced in various kinds of threads, including; Kristal Cantik Manis thread, Sartibi thread, Kristal Lepus thread, Tembaga (brass) thread, etc. It is located in Palembang, Sumatra, Indonesia.