Tulungagung Regency

Etymology

Previously, Tulungagung was only a small area located surrounding a location where the center of the town is situated now. That area was named Tulungagung, because it provided a great water source - in Old Javanese language, tulung means water source, and agung means big. The larger area are called Ngrowo. Ngrowo was still used as the name of Tulungagung until the 20th century, when the capital city location was moved from Kalangbret to Tulungagung.

History

In 1205 AD, the Thani Lawadan community living in the southern part of Tulungagung received an honor from the last king of Daha, Kertajaya, for their loyalty to the king when there was a siege from the enemy coming from the east of Daha. That honor then was written into an ancient inscription namely Prasasti Lawadan marked as "Sukra Suklapada Mangga Siramasa" which describing the date of November 18, 1205 AD, the date when it was made. That date then officially being used as the establishment date of Tulungagung since 2003.

In Boyolangu Village (Boyolangu district), there is Gayatri Temple, a temple which also a mausoleum for Gayatri (Sri Rajapatni), the fourth wife of the first Majapahit King, Raden Wijaya (Kertarajasa Jayawardhana), who also the mother of the third Majapahit Queen, Sri Gitarja (Tribhuwana Wijayatunggadewi). Sri Rajapatni was the grandmother of the greatest Majapahit Emperor, Hayam Wuruk (Rajasanegara), who ruled Majapahit in its golden period with the support of his prime minister Gadjah Mada. The name of Boyolangu is shown in Nagarakertagama as a sacred place for Gayatri.

Geography

Tulungagung Regency is located 154 km (96 mi) southwest of Surabaya, the capital city of East Java Province. The other regencies and areas surrounding Tulungagung are:

Topographically, Tulungagung is located 85 m (279 ft) above the sea level. The northwest part of Tulungagung is a portion of Wilis-Liman mountain range; the central part is lowland; the southern part is portion of rocky Kapur Kidul mountain range which is also an enormous source of marble. In the northwest part of Tulungagung, specifically in Sendang Subdistrict, there is Mount Wilis (2,563 m or 8,409 ft), the highest point in Tulungagung Regency. In the capital of Tulungagung, there is Ngrowo River, subpart of Brantas River and it divides the capital of Tulungagung into northern part and southern part.

Climate

Tulungagung regency has a tropical climate. Which have two season, rainy (November–April) and dry (May–October). The average temperature is 25.5 °C, the lowest is 19 °C and highest temperature is 31.8 °C. In October, the average temperature is 26.1 °C. In July, the average temperature is 24.8 °C. The average relative humidity is 75%, 74% for the lowest recorded relative humidity and 77% is the highest recorded relative humidity. The average wind speed is 2.6 km/h, with the lowest speed is 0.4 km/h and the highest reocrded speed is 7 km/h.

Government

Tulungagung Regency is divided into nineteen districts, subdivided into 271 villages. The nineteen districts are:

1. Bandung'
2. Besuki
3. Boyolangu
4. Campurdarat
5. Gondang
6. Kalidawir
7. Karangrejo
8. Kauman
9. Kedungwaru
10. Ngantru
11. Ngunut
12. Pagerwojo
13. Pakel
14. Pucanglaban
15. Rejotangan
16. Sendang
17. Sumbergempol
18. Tanggunggunung
19. Tulungagung (Capital)

Now, Tulungagung is ruled by Syahri Mulyo as the regent and Maryoto Birowo as the vice-regent since 2013.

Industries

Tulungagung is a major producer of marble slabs and marble handicraft product. It is the largest marble supply regencies in the southern part of East Java. In 1995, Tulungagung contributed over 33,800 M.sup.2 of marble through PT Industri Marmer Indonesia Tulungagung and PT Sumbertama Jaya Asri. Today, we can visit many home-based marble craft workshops in Campurdarat Subdistrict. Many of these small shops support local artisans and the local economy. Beside marble craft workshops, tourists can find small and medium enterprises that focus on manufacturing housewares such as door mats and brooms made of natural coconut husks, recycled fabrics or other natural materials in Plosokandang district. Furthermore, hand-painted batik and ready-to-wear batik sewing workshops can be found scattered in some parts of the city. In Ngunut Subdistrict travelers can find knapsack, belt, and traditional fried snack industries. Some of the popular snacks are kacang Shanghai (individual peanut rolled in garlic-seasoned flour batter and slow-roasted on pan), kacang telor (individual peanut rolled in spice-seasoned egg flour batter, slow-roasted on pan).