Actually, the name of this museum is Riau State Museum, but people are more familiar with Sang Nila Utama Museum. Created in the early 1990s, the museum now has more than 5,000 collections. Starting from the collection of ancient manuscripts, currency, and stamps, to preserved animals.
All of these collections refer to the history of Malay civilization in Sumatra because Riau is the center of Malay culture in Indonesia. This museum was founded because of the many objects and natural resources that must be preserved.
The collection of objects in this museum has been carried out since 1977 before finally being built-in 1984.
Sang Nila Utama was a prince from Palembang who discovered the island of Temasek which is now Singapore in 1299.
He is the descendant of the pair Sang Sapurba and Wan Sundaria, the son of Demang Lebar Daun, the then ruler of Palembang. Then, Sang Nila Utama married Wan Sri Bini and became king in Bintan before finally moving to Singapore.
Before opening, this museum was built in several stages over twenty years. Starting with the acquisition of a land area of 19,930 square meters, it was then continued by building several rooms for offices and exhibitions of collectibles.
After being inaugurated in 1990, the new head of the museum was elected four years later, namely Prof. DR. Edi Sedyawati, to be precise on July 9, 1994. The activities carried out in the museum are divided into two, namely museum development activities and those relating to the community.
The location of this museum is on Jl. Sudirman, Pekanbaru, Indonesia.
Open every day from 08 am – 1 pm local time,
Free for the public
