Alun-alun

Javanese officials and commoners alike had to dismount carriages and horses before entering the alun-alun lor to continue to the kraton.

The official residence of the Regent's "Patih", also Bupati (town or village head) was situated on the North or South.

Two enormous Pacikra or Pacikeran doors conventionally separate the high defensive perimeter wall surrounding the kraton and the alun-alun.

For especially heinous criminals, most especially traitors and vicious brigands, the condemner's head would be impaled on a pike as a macabre public warning.

The alun-alun lor was the only place where the Sultan or Susuhunan would conduct dialogue with his people, and functioned to show his humanity and humility.

In modern Yogyakarta and Surakarta, alun-alun lor is now surrounded by shops and malls, often hosting micro-enterprise stalls and for children to picnic in the yard and enjoy take-out food.