Preservation of Manuscripts at the Museum Prabu Geusan Ulun

In the October 2014 we had preservation activities at Museum Prabu Geusan Ulun Sumedang West Java.  Relics of historical objects and inheritance items of the Ancestors Sumedang, since the Kings of the Sumedang Larang Kingdom and the Regents who ruled Sumedang District before, were a proud collection of great significance for all of us, especially for the Sumedang family. This collection of objects was stored in the Pangeran Sumedang Foundation since 1955.

An idea arose, wanting to show the Sumedang people in particular and the people outside Sumedang in general, that in Sumedang there used to be a large kingdom, the Kingdom of Sumedang Larang, by looking at the relics of the Kings and so on.

The idea was responded with confidence by the family, so it was planned to make a museum. After careful and planned preparations were held, five years after 1968 it was only implemented, precisely on November 11, 1973 the Family Museum was established.

The museum is named Pangeran Sumedang Foundation Museum, and is managed directly by the Pangeran Sumedang Foundation. In 1974, in Sumedang a History Seminar was held by historical experts in West Java and followed by historians from the Pangeran Sumedang Foundation, the seminar discussed the name of the Sumedang museum. Proposed the name of the museum is a figure in the History of Sumedang, it turns out that the agreed name of the King of Sumedang was the last to rule the Kingdom of Sumedang Larang from 1578 - 1601, namely Prabu Geusan Oeloen.

Then the name of the museum became the King Geusan Ulun Museum with new spelling to make it easier for the new generation to read it.
 

Collection of Manuscripts

In addition to the inheritance of heirlooms at the King's Museum Geusan Ulun there are dozens of titles of ancient manuscript collections which are documentation of historical records from ancestors in writing. In general, the physical condition of the manuscript has been damaged a lot due to age and improper storage.

Waruga Jagat manuscript is one of the ancient manuscripts that became the collection of the King Geusan Ulun Museum in Sumedang Regency. The ancient manuscript was made by Mas Ngabehi Paranah, a Sumedang resident. The age of the manuscript is estimated to have reached 300 years.

Given the importance of preserving the information and knowledge contained in these ancient manuscripts, we collaborated with the museum management foundation and the Sumedang Regency Cultural Office to take over the digital media as a preservation effort.