Pagelaran Sasono Sumewo

Front view of Pagelaran

The southern part of Alun-Alun Lor consists of a large elevated building, Pagelaran Sasono sumewo. Its roof is constructed in a traditional style often found in villages, known as tridenta. It has in fact three parallel pitched roofs, the central roof of which is lower than the other two. This structure is supported by 48 square brick columns. The roof and ceilings are made of zinc, with raised and plastered floors. When it was first built, Pagelaran had

a much simpler form. It had a roof of gedheg, or woven bamboo, and columns of round bamboo, with a sand floor. This is another traditional construction, known as tratag rambat. However, during the reign of Paku Buwono X Pagelaran was rebuilt in the much grander style that it has now. The 48 columns found here symbolized Paku Buwono Xs age at the time of its restructuring.

The word Pagelaran means'open space', Sasono means'place', Sumewo means'to pay attendance on'. It was the place where the highest officials of the realm, i.e. the Pepatih Dalem, Bupati, and Bupati Anom held court. Royal audiences, where the ruler would be present, were usually only held on important festival days, like the Garebegor Bagdo celebrations, which were held three times a year, the ruler's birthday, and the yearly coronation anniversaries.