Rengasdengklok

Rengasdengklok is a town and district in the North Coast region of West Java, Indonesia.

Understand
Rengasdengklok is a district in Karawang Regency, about 15 km north of the regency capital Karawang.

Rengasdengklok is known in Indonesia from the Peristiwa Rengasdengklok or 'Rengasdengklok Affair' that happened on 16 August 1945. The day before, Japan had surrendered, effectively ending the Second World War. As allowed by the Japanese a few weeks before, Soekarno (leader of the nationalist movement) had established the PPKI committee to prepare the government structure of an independent Indonesia. However, in the early morning of 16 August, another nationalist group (PETA) kidnapped Soekarno and brought him to a house in Rengasdengklok (about 70 km from Central Jakarta), to pressure him to declare independence as soon as possible. In Rengasdengklok, the first draft of the declaration of independence was prepared. Later that day, Soekarno was taken back to Jakarta, and in the morning of 17 August 1945 the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence was read.

Get in
Rengasdengklok is about 15 km north of Karawang. The town can be easily reached from both Karawang and Bekasi (30 km). To get to Rengasdengklok by public transport, there is an angkot (public minivan) route from the bus terminal of Karawang.

Eat
A well-known type of food from Rengasdengklok is serabi hijau. Serabi is a pancake that is made from rice flour with coconut milk, that is made throughout Java. However, the serabi from Rengasdengklok is special because it is green ('hijau '), using the leaves of a type of dracaena plant (daun suji).

Sleep
There are no hotels in Rengasdengklok. Hotels and other accommodations can be found in Karawang (15 km), Bekasi (30 km), or Jakarta (50 km).

Go next

 * Batujaya — possibly the oldest temple complex of Java island, about 20 km northwest of Rengasdengklok.
 * Bekasi — the nearest major city with many shopping facilities, restaurants, and hotels.