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.