Gedong Kirtya library was founded in 1928 by the Dutch in what was then their colonial capital of the Lesser Sunda Islands

Lesser Sunda Islands

The Lesser Sunda Islands or Nusa Tenggara are a group of islands in the southern Maritime Southeast Asia, north of Australia. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make up the Sunda Islands...

, Singaraja

Singaraja

Singaraja is the regency seat of Buleleng, Bali, Indonesia. The name is Indonesian for "Lion King". It is on the north coast just east of Lovina...

, and named for the Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

 word 'to try'. It is in the complex of Sasana Budaya, the old palace of the Buleleng Kingdom.

In its collection are lontar manuscripts (written on dried leaves of the rontal palm

Borassus flabellifer

Borassus flabellifer, the Asian Palmyra palm, Toddy palm, Sugar palm, or Cambodian palm, is native to South and Southeast Asia, in the Indomalaya ecozone...

), prasasti (inscribed on copper plates) and manuscripts on paper in Balinese and Roman characters including documents from the colonial period (1901-1953).

Ex Bupati of Buleleng Dr Ketut Wirata Sindhu is upgrading the library into a full museum. When completed, the museum will cover the entire Sasana Budaya complex.