List of the things that you must see in the Kraton complex

Kraton Yogyakrta: This main palace is divided into the Main court and the residence area. You can grasp some by the majestic lifestyle by the royal family as you enter this place through the displays. The palace remains open from 9am to 3pm.

Alun Alun: These is the two sultan's ground. The names by the grounds is alun-alun-utara and alun-alun-selatan.

Taman Sari: besides known as the water castle, Taman Sari was originally a pleasure garden that was built by the first sultan by Yogyakarta. The beautiful bathing pools can still be detected in the ruined structure. There is parades held on these grounds on Prophet Mohammad's birthday.

Sultan's Carriage Museum: The Museum displays the horse drawn carriages drawn that belonged to the sultan. You can besides see the two special carriages that were imported from Netherlands so many years ago.

Siti Hinggil Selatan: This was besides a palace originally used for formal events. Now it is used for the shadow puppet shows that take place on every weekend night.

Masjid Gede Kauman: This is a very ancient mosque that is located at the west by alun-alun-utara, one by the sultan's grounds. This mosque used to be the venue for all religious ceremonies performed or observed by the royal family. Non-Muslim visitors is expected to maintain certain decorum when they enter the palace.

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Kraton. Built in the middle of the 18th century

At the center by Yogyakarta lies a city inside the city: the Kraton. Built in the center by the 18th century, this walled-city serves as the home by the sultans by what remains by the Mataram kingdom to this day. The palace is open to guided tours for the right way dressed guests. Inside you'll find many shady courts connected by attractively decorated covered walks.

By detail interest are the ornate receipt halls as well as the great outdoors pendopos for listing to gamelan performances. You'll as well find a small air-conditioned room where the desk at which the ninth sultan planned the overthrow by the Dutch is enshrined. As well interesting is the gallery displaying the royal category tree and photos by many members. We thought the painting by the eighth sultan on his circumcision day to be particularly curious.

There's as well an extended display by the ninth sultan's mememtos, including his favorite cookwares. Another gallery displays the gifts from various state visits.

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Kotagede Royal Cemetery Yogyakarta

Kotagede, which is often, called Sargede lies about five km southeast of Yogyakarta. In this old-city, tourist can visit the cemetery of the Mataram Kings like Sutowijoyo, also known as Ngabei Loring Pasar the founder of the Mataram kingdom who was then called Panembahan Senopati. There is also the unique tomb of Ki Ageng Mangir. He was Panembahan Senopati's son in law and his enemy at the same time. His body was buried outside the complex. A hundred meters away from the tomb, there is a stone called "Watu Gilang", the stone on which Panembahan Senopati smashed the head of Ki Ageng Mangir to dead.

Those who want to go inside the cemetery have to wear traditional clothes that one can hire there. Kotagede Royal Cemetery opens on Monday at 10 am - 12 am, and at 01.30 pm - 4 pm on Friday. In addition to cemetery, there are "graceful gates"; ponds will be full of Clarius Melenodermas and yellow turtle. This turtle is hundred years of age and also had had believed as a sacred miraculous turtle.

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Benteng Vredeburg Yogyakarta

Benteng Vredeburg (lit. Vredeburg fort) is situated exactly face to face with Gedung Agung. The Dutch colonial built it in 1765 during the domination. It was built in order to anticipate the cannon shot from the Sultan's troops. Its function was also to protect the occupation of the Dutch Residence. This fort is surrounded by moats that still can be seen until now. The fort is rectangular-shaped, with kind of citadel (bastion) on its corner, which enable Dutch's soldiers to walk around and aim a good shot. From the base of the cannon on the southern bastion, visitors may enjoy wonderful views of Sultan's Palace and other historical building around, and certainly the busy traffic of Yogyakarta. The fort can be reach on foot from the center of the municipality.

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Culture of Yogyakarta

The culture Yogyakarta province with its status as a special region lies in the Southern part of Central Java, in the heartland of Javanese culture. As the former capital and the center of several kingdoms in the past, this region and its people are very rich in a variety of cultures. It is widely known from to historical records that the civilization, art and culture had developed well in the center of those kingdoms respectively in the Ancient Mataram Kingdom (8th - 10th Century) era, the second Mataram Kingdom (17th - 18th Century) and Sultanate Ngayogyokarto from the mid of 18th Century up today.

It should be noted that the cultural heritage from the past includes the magnificent temples, the ruins of palaces and monasteries, the various kind of traditions, cultural events, traditional folk and performing arts, architecture and other traditional activities. It is important to note that this is all part of the living culture of Yogyakarta, color of daily activities of live and the local inhabitants behavior, particularly the Javanese community with its traditional way of life and customs. Therefore, because of its culture richness and heritage, Yogyakarta has long been known as the cradle of Javanese culture.

The other legendary name for Yogyakarta City, among the elders as well as the youth generation that is the City of Art and Culture. Traditional and modern exhibition are held almost every day and night about the art of theater, pantomime, music, classic and contemporary dances, poems, etc. Those are flow in the heart of the city. Even more, there are abundant of cultural ceremony, such as Sekaten, Gunungan, Labuhan, Malioboro Fair, etc, which make the city has high value of tradition, art, and culture.

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Populations of Yogyakarta

Based on 2000, the total population of Yogyakarta special Region amounted to 3.311.812. Yogyakarta Municipality that has 461,800 inhabitants spread over 32,50 kilometers or the average population density is thus over 14,200 persons per square kilometer. The least densely populated districts is in Gunung Kidul regency which has 720.643 inhabitants and cover 1,485 square kilometers or the density rate is 485 persons per square kilometer. Since a very long time ago the Provincial territory of Yogyakarta Special Region and its surrounding has been decently populated.
The majority residents of Yogyakarta Special Region are Javanese whose language derives from ancient Sanskrit. However, as Yogyakarta is considered to be "Indonesia's academic city" due to the numerous centers for higher learning, many of the inhabitants are student who come from all over Indonesia to study.

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Yogyakarta happy and safe motivation of life

Living in harmony is very important for Javanese, harmonious life in the family with neighbors, friends, colleagues at place of work, etc. Harmony gives a balance in life, which in turn should give a happy and safe motivation of life.
With this point of view, no wonder Javanese are easy to find something pleasure in simple things, even for becak drivers, who have to use a lot of physical energy to gain some rupiahs, they can enjoy themselves easily waiting for the next passengers. They sing a simple song, Uro-uro (Javanese old song) while smoking their kretek. Sometimes they play cards (domino), jokingly, ridiculing each other and everyone is amused.

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Novotel Yogyakarta A perfect location

Novotel Yogyakarta A perfect location in the heart of this Javanese cultural centre. Novotel Yogyakarta is minutes away from the famous KRATON palace, and a short drive from the airport. The staff of Novotel Yogyakarta is waiting to welcome you wath typical Yogyanese a visti famous KRATON, the Sultan's palace, dating back to 17th century. The Taman Sari water castle and Imogiri Royal cemetery are also well worth a visit. The bird market and the traditional Javanese market of "Beringharjo" will five you first hand experience of Yogya's colourful way of life. Yogyakarta is most famous for the Buddhist Stupa of Borobudur, the largest in the world. The Hindu temple complex of Prambanan, outside Yogyakarta, is another place not to miss. Other places of interes are the Ratu Boko temple, Prangtritis beachm Kaliurang highlands, and the village of Kasongan, A traditional and warm Yogyanese welcome awaits you at Novotel Yogyakarta.

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Place at Yogyakarta > Trimurti Theatre, Prambanan Temple, Yogyakarta

The conference dinner will take place at Prambanan Garden Restaurant, Prambanan Temple complex - Yogyakarta – Indonesia on December 5th.
Prambanan, named after the village, is the biggest temple complex in Java. There are 224 temples in the complex; three of them, the main temples are Brahma Temple in the north, Vishnu Temple in the south, and the biggest among the three which lies between Brahma and Vishnu temples is Shiva Temple (47 meters high).
These three ancient masterpieces of Hindu Architecture are locally referred to as Prambanan Temple or Lorojonggrang Temple. One of its appeals is the rich sculptural detail. The well known one is on the inner wall of the balustrade, the wonderfull vital and utterly engrossing Ramayana Epic.

Buses will be available to transfer the participants from the venue to Prambanan Temple complex at 18:00 (HARD). Dinner will be served at Prambanan Garden Restaurant from 18:30 to 19:30. Dinner will be served outdoor with Prambanan Temple as background.

At 19:30, the participants will proceed to Trimurti Theater to enjoy the Sendratari Ramayana Ballet presented by more than 50 professional dancers.

Buses will transfer the participants at the end of the ballet to the hotels.

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Place at Yogyakarta > Borobudur Tour

Tour Itinerary
08:30 Pick up at start point by tour guide
08.30-08.50 Drives to Prambanan temple
08.50-09.50 Visit Prambanan Temple
09.50.10.10 Drive to Sultan Palace
10.10-11.10 Visit Sultan Palace
11.10-11.45 Visit Water Castle (Tamansari )
11.45-12.45 Visit Batik home industry and Silverwork at Kotagede
12.45-13.00 Drive to restaurant
13.00-14.00 Enjoy the lunch at local restaurant
14.00-15.00 Drive to Borobudur
15.00-16.30 Visit Borobudur Temple
16.30-17.30 Visit Pawon and Mendut temples
17.30-18.30 drive to stop point at Yogyakarta surrounding area
18.30 Arrive at stop point

Price: US$ 85 net/person ONLY (Minimum 2 persons)
US$ 110 net/person for single traveller

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PLace at Yogyakarta > Keraton

This Javanese Palace was, and still is, the centerpiece of Yogyakarta and for the Hamengku Buwono Dynasty. Originally designed and built by Hamengku Buwono I (circa 1776), it is an outstanding example of elegant, classical Javanese architecture. The Keraton has a North to South orientation and is made up of a series of Bangsal (halls) which are venues for Gamelan, Dances and Wayang (puppet) performances, as well as spacious courtyards, pavilions and domiciles.

The north to south orientation is quite important inasmuch as the Palace, the Tugu and Mount Merapi (see below) are all in a perfectly straight line. This axis is believed to be blessed and in olden days the Sri Sultan used to concentrate his mind along this axis before making an important decision.

You will undoubtedly notice a number of elderly, elegant, reserved and dignified men in traditional batik and Javanese headgear (Blangkon). These are the royal retainers, whose family service to the Sultan goes back many, many generations. These days they are responsible for maintaining the palace and its exhibits, collecting entrance fees and enforcing proper tourist decorum. They consider themselves privileged and act accordingly.

The Keraton itself houses an interesting variety of historically significant objects - from the Antique Royal Gamelan, to Royal Palanquins (glass enclosed conveyances for the Royal family that carried on the shoulders of up to 16 bearers) and original oil portraits and photos of the ten Sultans and their wives and children.

Somewhat surprisingly, the palace is also home to approximately 20,000 people who live and work in the Keraton even today. Many of these residents sell souvenirs, snacks and soft drinks to the many tourists who arrive daily.
Hours: Daily 8:00am to 2:00pm (Fridays 8:00am to 1:00pm). Closed on all National holidays.
Entrance Fee: Rp. 2,000.- (Rp. 3,000.- if you want to take pictures).

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Places at Yogyakarta > The smaller Pakualaman Karaton

The smaller Pakualaman Karaton is also open the visitors. It has a small museum, a pondopo that can hold a full gamelan orchestra, and a curious colonial house. The Ambarrukmo Place in the grounds of the Ambarrukmo Places Hotel, around 7km east of the centre was built in the 1890s as a country house for Hamangkubuwono VII.

Museum
On the northern side of the main square in front of the Karaton, Sono-Budoyo Museum is the pick of Yogya’s museums. Thought not particularly well maintained, it has a first-class collection of Javanese art, including wayang kulit puppets, topeng (masks), kris and batik. There is a courtyard packed with Hindu statuary and artifacts from further a field, including superb Balinese carving, wayang kulit perfomences are held every evening from 8am to 10pm.

Near the Karaton entrances, Museum Kereta Karaton has exhibits of opulent chariots of the sultan.

Dating back to 1765, Benteng Vredeburg is a Dutch-are from opposite the main post office. The restored fort is now a museum with dioramas showing the history of the independence movement in Yogya, the architecture is wroth a look, but the dioramas are designed for Indonesian patriots.

Up until his death in 1990, Affandi, Indonesia’s best known artist internationally, lived and worked in a unusual three house studio overlooking the river, about 6km east of the town centre. The Affandi Museum in the grounds exhibits his inversions work, as well as painting by his daughter Kartika and other artist. Affandi is buried in the beck garden.

Sasmitaluka Jendral Sudirman is the memorial home of general Sudirman, the commander of the revolutionary forces who died shortly after the siege of Yogay in 1948.

Museum Sasana Wiratama honors the Indonesian hero, Prince Diponogoro, who was leader of the bloody but futile rebellion of 1825-30 against the Dutch. A motley collection of the prince’s belongings and other exhibits are kept in the small museum at his former Yogya residence.

Museum Perjuangan in the southern part to the city, as a small and a rather for collection of photographs documenting the Indonesia Revolution, the large Army Museum display documents, home-made weapons, uniform and medical equipment from the revolutions years.

Kota Gede
Kota Gede has been famed as the hub of Yogya’s silver industry since the 1930s. But this quiet old town, which is now a suburb of Yogya, was the first capital of the Mataram Kingdom, founded by Penembahan Senopati in 1952. Senopati is buried in the small mossy graveyard of an old mosque near the town’s central market. You can visit the sacred tomb (open around 9am noon Sun, Mon & Thurs, around 1pm-3pm Fri), visitor should wear conservative dress. On days when the tomb is closed there is little to see here.

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Place at Yogyakarta > Merapi Volcano

Yogyakarta Borobudur – Merapi and Solo Tours are the tour packages taken within 4 nights and 5 days to visit many places of interest like: Borobudur Temple, Merapi Volcano, Merbabu Valley, Sukuh Cetho Temple, Solo Town, Prambanan Temple and Yogyakarta surrounding area. It tours is combined with the comfortable accommodations, Indonesian cuisine at local restaurant, entrance ticket and others. Our professional tour guide offers high hospitality with full information that make your tours are enjoyable along with full air-conditioning and save driver that complete it to be a memorable one.

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Details of Yogyakarta

Yogyakarta Special Region (Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta, DIY) is officially one of Indonesia's 32 provinces. It is located in the center of the island of Java, bordered on the south by the Indian Ocean, and to the north by a chain of volcanoes of which meeting Merapi, some 27 kms away, can be seen as a dramatic background to the city skyline.

Yogyakarta Special Region is geographically located almost equidistant from Indonesia's two most important international gateways, about 600 kms from Jakarta and 1000 kms from Bali. Yogyakarta also has excellent transport connections by bus, train or plane to the rest of Java, Sumatera, Bali & Lombok.

Yogyakarta's Adisucipto Airport is in the process of changing its status in order to receive not only domestics flights from Bali and Jakarta, but also direct charter and scheduled flights from other countries.

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Yogyakarta festivals and events

The Yogyakarta Arts Festival is held annually for one whole month. During this time, you can see various traditional arts and cultural performances such as gamelan, wayang orang, wayang kulit, wayang golek, handicraft and painting exhibitions, classical dance, ketoprak, jatilan, reog and other forms of arts and performances.

There is also a huge celebration to commemorate Indonesia ’s Independence Day which falls on 17 August.

he people of Yogyakarta also organise a major celebration to mark the birthday of the Prophet Mohammad, usually about a week before the actual day. The week begins with traditional ceremonies, carnivals and festival (Sekaten). The people believe that by celebrating the Prophet Muhammed’s birthday, they will be blessed with good life and youthfulness.

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Mount Merapi or Gunung Merapi Yogyakarta

Mount Merapi or Gunung Merapi in Indonesian language (bahasa), is a conical volcano in Central Java, Indonesia. It is the most active volcano in Indonesia and has erupted regularly since 1548. Its name means Mountain of Fire. It is very close to the city of Yogyakarta, and thousands of people live on the flanks of the volcano, with villages as high as 1700 m above sea level.
Several of its eruptions have caused fatalities. It was erupting from 1992 to 2002, and a particularly large explosion killed 43 people in 1994. It began erupting again in 2006, and scientists believe a large eruption is imminent. In light of the hazards it poses to populated areas, it has been designated a Decade Volcano.
Merapi is the youngest in a group of volcanoes in southern Java. It is situated at a subduction zone, where the Indo-Australian Plate is sliding beneath the Eurasian Plate. It is one of at least 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia, part of the Pacific Ring of Fire - a section of fault lines stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and South East Asia

Stratigraphic analysis reveals that eruptions in the Merapi area began about 400,000 years ago, and from then until about 10,000 years ago, eruptions were typically effusive, and the outflowing lava emitted was basaltic. Since then, eruptions have become more explosive, with viscous andesitic lavas often generating lava domes. Dome collapse has often generated pyroclastic flows, and larger explosions, which have resulted in eruption columns, have also generated pyroclastic flows through column collapse.

Typically, small eruptions occur every two to three years, and larger ones every 10-15 years or so. Notable eruptions, often causing many deaths, have occurred in 1006, 1786, 1822, 1872 (the most violent eruption in recent history), and 1930—when thirteen villages were destroyed and 1400 people killed by pyroclastic flows.
A very large eruption in 1006 is claimed to have covered all of central Java with ash. The volcanic devastation is claimed to have led to the collapse of the Hindu Kingdom of Mataram, however there is insufficient evidence from that era for this to be substantiated.

Merapi continues hold particular significance for the Javanese: it is one of four places where officials from the royal palaces of Yogyakarta and Solo make annual offerings to placate the ancient Javanese spirits.

More like hers brother, Mount Merbabu is a favorite mountain for local and foreign mountaineers. The average temperature in its top is around 15 grade Celsius during the day, of course in the night, it’s biting cold. The magnificent Merbabu is in the middle of Central Java Province, comes from the word "Meru" means mountain and "Babu" means female or lady. For years it has been known as a sleeping mountain, but in fact it has 5 calderas, namely: Condrodimuko, Kombang, Kendang, Rebab & Sambernyowo. Mt. Merbabu last eruption was in 1968 which caused a lot of erosion. Usually it gives a tranquile atmosphere to its green beautiful environment.

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Yogyakarta-Prambanan Temple

This magnificent Shivaite temple derives it name from the village where it is located. Locally known as the Loro Jonggrang Temple, or the Temple of the "Slender Virgin", it is the biggest and most beautiful Hindu temple in Indonesia.

Seventeen kilometers east of Yogyakarta, it is believed to have been built by King Balitung Maha Sambu in the middle of the ninth century. Its parapets are adorned with a bas-reliefs depicting the famous Ramayana story.

The first open-air theater on the southern side of the temple was built in 1960 and the new theater on the western side of the temple in 1988. During full moon evenings in the month from May to October, the Ramayana ballet is performed right here. The temple complex of Prambanan lies among green fields and villages. It has eight shrines, of which the three main ones are dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma.

The main temple of Shiva rises to a height of 130 feet and houses the magnificent statue of Shiva's consort, Durga.

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Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat Palace

The palace court with its grand and elegant Javanese architecture lies in the center of the city. It was founded by Prince Mangkubumi in 1755. The Prince was then called Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono

I. He chose the right location of the compound between the Winongo River and the Code River. The palace stretches out from north to south.

The front yard is called alun-alun Utara (the North Square), and the back yard is called Alun-alun Selatan (the South Square).

The layout of the buildings shows that the Palace, the commemorative column and Mount Merapi lie in one line.

The palace meeting hall is called the Pagelaran, where formal meetings of palace officials are held, while the "Manguntur Tingkil" hall is the place where the Sultan is seated.

The palace visitors can enjoy the atmosphere of the kraton in former times by visiting the life-size diorama of wedding ceremonies on the palace meeting hall, performed by puppets which are intentionally arranged to create such an atmosphere. Sets of Javanese musical instruments, antiques and heirlooms have made the palace of Yogyakarta worth to visit.

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Yogyakarta Information and Guide

Yogyakarta is one of the biggest cities and is one of the special regions in Indonesia, called Yogyakarta Special Region. It lies on the central Java covering 32.80 square kilometers with the total population around 511.744 people. It is famous for classical Javanese fine art and culture including handmade batik, traditional ballet, drama, music, and puppet shows. During the revolution period, Yogyakarta was the national capital of Indonesia, from 1945 to 1949.
Yogyakarta is divided into 14 districts :
* Danurejan
* Gedongtengen
* Gondomanan
* Gondokusuman
* Jetis
* Kraton
* Kotagede
* Mergangsan
* Mantrijeron
* Ngampilan
* Pakualaman
* Tegalrejo
* Umbulharjo
* Wirobrajan
Besides the cultural heritage, Yogyakarta has beautiful panoramic views with hectares of rice fields on the outskirt of the main city. It offers wide range of tourist attractions and the remnants from the old centuries including Borobudur Temple, Prambanan Temples, Mendut and Pawon Temples. Art and cultural tourisms are also attracted domestic and foreign travelers. Shopping is another option while holiday in Yogyakarta. The best shopping spots and entertainment complex is on Malioboro Street.

Yogyakarta is the second most popular Indonesia travel destination after Bali. Selection of accommodations and hotels are located on the main city. There are some international chain hotels in Yogyakarta such as Sheraton Mustika Resort, Hyatt Regency Yogyakarta, Melia Purosani, Ibis Malioboro, Novotel Yogyakarta, Quality Hotel Yogyakarta and Grand Mercure Yogyakarta. Small and budget hotels are also available with simple facilities.

Getting to Yogyakarta can be by flights from major cities in Indonesia, by train from Jakarta, Bandung, Solo, Semarang, and Surabaya, by bus from all cities in Java. Flights to Yogyakarta are served daily from Denpasar, Jakarta, Surabaya and other big cities in Indonesia, regular flights from Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

Places of interest :
Borobudur Buddhist Temple, Gebang Temple, Ijo Temple, Mendut Temple, Pawon Temple, Plaosan Temple, Prambanan Temple, Tara Temple, Musems, Malioboro Shopping Street and Parangtritis Beach.

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Direct to Yogyakarta Indonesia

Yogyakarta is one of province which located in Java having idiosyncrasy that is having cultural characteristic which come from empire of Mataram with their Kraton. Culture which have sticked in Yogyakarta people till now still looked after and is one of the commodity for tourism. Beside that, Yogyakarta also have some tourism objects like Prambanan Temple, Plaosan Temple, Queen of Boko Temple, Ijo Temple near by also with Borobudur Temple and one way other temple like Mendut Temple, Pawon Temple. Other tourism objects are natural tour object like Parangtritis Beach and parallel other beaches where having beautiful panorama and white sand, Merapi Mountain which is one of the active mount in world, near by also with Dieng Mountain area. As for other interesting place like Malioboro, Kotagede Area with their Glorious Mosque, Gabusan Artistic Market, Kasongan Market Craft, Beringharjo Traditional Market and Ngasem Market, Watercastle Tamansari and still many again which cannot be mentioned one by one at this medias.

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