Background Setting of Indonesia and Java

Lies in the equator, consisting of only one third land (islands) and two third part of the whole country is sea, Indonesia is a humid-tropical country. One of its around 13.000 islands, big and small, Java island is not the biggest but is the most densely populated. Almost 100 million of 190 million people live in Java. Since Indonesia is still based its living upon agriculture, it is not surprising to see that almost 80 percent of its population lives in villages.

Realising that many of the villages are still beyond expected development, in 1994 fiscal years the Central Government issued a National Policy to subsidised the development of those less-developed villages to overcome their backwardness. In the provincial level this policy is made more specific by East Java province by launching a programme 'one village one production'. This program, expectedly, not only help to develop the village, but also to reduce the rate of urbanisation. Meanwhile, villages in Indonesia is characterised, among many things, by their strong ties to their culture and tradition.

Within Java itself, where the capital of Jakarta lies, there are at least three major ethnic groups, the Javanese, Sundanese and the Madurese. The Javanese comprises around one third part of Java and are located in the central part. They have centuries of tradition and culture. Architectural remains of the eighth century (which is a Buddhist monument, Borobudur) is just one evidence of this long tradition and culture (archaeologists had even proof that Java had been occupied from the prehistory period, evidenced from remains of terraced platform of ritual places).

Contacts with Hindu, Islam, and Christianity, as well with other ethnic groups of Indonesia, with other foreigners like Chinese, Arabic, and European had only enrich that Javanese treasure. Of course, within the Javanese themselves we may find variations on architecture, but we will put them aside and will only concentrate upon issues on building a home as documented in the Primbon.