Palembang

Palembang is a city of 1,286,000 in the south of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It is the capital of the province of South Sumatra and its metropolitan area includes more than 1,730,000 people.

The city was once the capital of the ancient partly Hindu partly Buddhist kingdom of Srivijaya (Sriwijaya) that controlled a large part of what is now Malaysia and Indonesia. Following a 1025 raid by the Chola Empire of southern India it began to gradually decline in importance. Srivijaya's capital eventually moved northward to Jambi.

Records of its beginning are scarce while estimations range from the 3rd to 5th centuries CE[citation needed], but the earliest solid proof of its existence dates from the 7th century; a Chinese monk, I-Tsing, wrote that he visited Srivijaya in 671 for 6 months; the Kedukan Bukit Inscription is dated 683. The kingdom ceased to exist between 1200 and 1300 due to various factors, including the expansion of Majapahit. In Sanskrit, sri means "shining" or "radiant" and vijaya means "victory" or "excellence".

After Srivijaya fell, it was largely forgotten and so historians had never considered that a large united kingdom could have been present in Southeast Asia. The existence of Srivijaya was only formally suspected in 1918 when French historian George Coedès of the École française d'Extrême-Orient postulated the existence of the empire. Around 1992 and 1993, Pierre-Yves Manguin proved that the centre of Srivijaya was along the Musi River between Bukit Seguntang and Sabokingking (situated in what is now the province of South Sumatra, Indonesia).

Makara portal guardian at Candi Gumpung in Muaro Jambi

Palembang is also the origin of Parameswara, the ruler of Malacca (a state in Malaysia) who established the most important empire in Malaysian history.

The Famous Ampera Bridge

The architectural legacy of Dutch colonization is still visible in the city. Deep-water port facilities are built along the Musi River, which flows through the city.

Source: Wikipedia