Explore Jakarta’s Iconic Monas National Monument
The National Monument, or Monas (a contraction of its name in Bahasa—Monumen Nasional), was a project of the first President of Indonesia—Sukarno. Throughout his turbulent reign, Sukarno sought to unite Indonesia with tangible symbols of nationhood. Just as theIstiqlal Mosqueaimed to unite Muslim Indonesians, the Monas serves as a historic memorial to the Indonesian independence movement.