Palembang city, is one of Indonesia largest city in Sumatra island after Medan city and officially the capital of South Sumatra province.
Palembang was formerly known as the capital city of the ancient Kingdom of Srivijaya before it went to Jambi. As we know that Srivijaya or Sriwijaya was a powerful ancient Malay kingdom on the island of Sumatra. Palembang is considered as the eldest city in Indonesia based on the inscription of Kedukan Bukit, which stated about the establishment of the city and the capital of Sriwijaya kingdom on June 16, 682 AD. That makes the day of the Palembang anniversary.
Palembang landmarks include the Ampera bridge and the Musi River which divides the city into two, Seberang Ilir to the north and Seberang Ulu to the south. The Seberang Ilir is the economic and cultural centre and the Seberang Ulu is the political centre. Palembang city is a strategic city, regarding this is the connection way among the region in Sumatra island. Moreover, The existence of Musi river that being crossed by the Ampera bridge is become the major transportation among the regions.
Palembang city was build along the historical time line that remain the struggles of being a history as strong as today. The first period occur at the time of Sriwijaya Kingdom, followed by the ruin of this kingdom in other time. Other phase was begin again when the time of Palembang Darussalam sultanate until the phase of colonialism to the present time. By those phases Palembang nowadays is already become a significant city in Indonesia.
Palembang inhabitants are ethnic of Malays, and they use Bahasa Melayu in daily speaking which already adjusted by the local dialect, known as the Language of Palembang. Beside the natives people, in Palembang there are also some more immigrant, like the Javanese, Minangkabau, Madurese, Bugis and Banjar. Other are Tionghoa, Arabic and Indian.
Palembang is famous with its food of Pempek Pelembang, and become more popular in other area in Indonesia. Beside pempek, people should know that Palembang has destinations to go like, Musi river, Ampera bridge, The great mosque of Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II Palembang, Kuto Besak port, Kambang Iwak Family Park, Punti Kayu forest tourism, Sriwijaya primordial tourism, Bukit Siguntang primordial tourism, Monumen Perjuangan Rakyat, Museum of Balaputradewa, Museum of Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II, Textile museum, Sriwijaya Cheng-Ho Mosque, Songket handicraft center and many more.
Palembang, city of million charm