Have you ever read about a famous fairy tale of Ariel, the Little Mermaid written by the famous Hans Christian Andersen ? Perhaps, if you haven’t read the story, you should have watched the movie based on the story.
Of come on, don’t say that you never know it. It is so famous around the word. I have read a comic of the sad ending story about Ariel a long time ago, back to when I was still at Elementary School , almost 4 decades ago.
It is such heart-breaking story that I didn’t want to read it twice. However the tale was kept in my mind until now. I never saw the Hollywood’s cartoon version released in 1989.
Anyway don’t worry, I won’t tell you about that story in this writing.
I will not write about anything that doesn’t have any relation with my lovely Bogor.
The Little Mermaid Statue in Bogor Palace
The opening is just to let you know that my city, the rain city of mine, Bogor has a statue that is related to the fairy tale.
Perhaps visitors coming to Bogor Botanical Gardens usually like to take a picture or doing selfie in one specific place. The place is the ponds full of Lotus or Nymphaea Alba with the background of Bogor Palace.
Yes, it is the most favorite place to make a memory because the place is stunning. It is really stunning.
However many do not realize if they don’t use a guide that on the backyard of Bogor Palace, there is a figure. A small figure of a statue of little lady sits on a stone with her face like seeing the water of the pond.
Not only foreign tourists that overlooked this statue but also Indonesia domestic people often don’t take a glance of this sculpture
Whereas, the statue is a replica of the famous Little Mermaid statue in the world. You may already know that there are around 14 replicas of the statue around the earth.
It is said that the statue of “Ariel” was a replica presented by Royal Denmark to Indonesia in 1958. It is a gift for my country to show the close friendship both countries had.
It is flattering considering the Ariel statue is an iconic symbol of Denmark. It is widely known how Danes’ pride about Hans Christian Andersen and his popularity among the Earth’s members. It is similar to Indonesian’s pride about Bali or Borobudur.
To have , even only a replica made 60 years ago should show how Denmark has considered our country as a friend since many years.
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Do you know who was the sculptor of the original statue of the Little Mermaid ? I am not referring to the one in Bogor Palace as it is just a replica but the original Ariel Statue.
Well, perhaps , even I am an Indonesian , I can tell you a bit about the person who made such a beautiful carving. His name was Edvard Eriksen, a Dane sculptor. He was born in 1876 and died in 1959.
He was once trained as a wood carver but later on produced the Little Mermaid from bronze.
Later on, he became a lecturer in Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts for eleven years berween 1908-1919 and a conservator at Thorvaldsen Museum in Copenhagen Denmark for 23 years from 1930-1953.
His masterpiece, the Little Mermaid statue, as you may have known and seen can be found near the waterside of Langelinie promenade in Copenhagen, Denmark.
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Well, if you haven’t read the story, nor watched the movie, nor seen the original statue, don’t be disappointed. Just come to my city you can see the replica here, quite old replica and at the same time you can see many other things here.
Don’t be ashamed. I tell you honestly that many visitors from Indonesian Domestic (even Bogor people) don’t know the name of the statue either. Even many of them have mixed the statue with another one named as “Denok” , a statue of a sexy lady made by Indonesian sculpture. They thought this statue as “Denok” for quite long time.
So, let’s come here and we can see both statues and many more because Bogor Palace is known to have vast collection of statues inside. There are more than 300 statues in this palace.
I haven’t seen all , so I will be more than willing to accompany you either to see the Little Mermaid or any other statues.