Monumen Nasional (National Monument) or popularly abbreviated with Monas or Monas Statue is  a memorial statue with at 132 meters (433 feet) height, which was established to commemorate the struggle of the people of Indonesia to win independence from the Dutch East Indies colonial government. Monas was built on August 17, 1961 and opened to the public on July 12, 1975. Monas is located right in the heart of Jakarta in the middle of the Medan Merdeka Square at Jakarta Pusat/Central Jakarta. To visit the monument, you can walk from Gambir Station Jakarta towards the Jakarta City Hall and enter through the IRTI parking lot. From here you can use the tourist train which is provided free to take visitors from the parking lot to the mouth of the tunnel monument located near the fountain and the statue of Pangeran Diponegoro. There are two tourist trains with a capacity of 36 people / trains, to use it you have to be willing to queue.

Through this tunnel that is 3 meters below of the monument park, visitors will enter the Monas court and would meet ticket sales counter to enter the monument. National Monument is open from 09:00 until 15:00. Price ticket to the Cup and the Museum is Rp. 2,500. If you want to go to the top of the Monument, then you have to buy another ticket for Rp. 7,500. Keep your ticket if you want to use the tourist train back to the parking lot IRTI.

After purchasing a ticket, you will enter the outer courtyard that surrounds the monument. You will see a relief depicting the history of Indonesia in the past until the development of modern Indonesia. The relief and statue sculpture here are made of cement with a metal pipe inside.

Once satisfied with observing the relief you can get to the base of the monument which is at 3 meters below ground level. At the base of the monument, there is the National History Museum which contains 51 dioramas showing the history of Indonesia since the days of pre-history to the New Order regime.

On the inside of the Monument cup, there is a Hall of Independence with amphitheater shaped. This Hall can be reached via stairs from the revolving door on the north and south side. In the Independence Room you will see the Indonesian Archipelago map, Independence Day, flag and state emblem and door arch inscribed the manuscript Indonesian Declaration of Independence. In this room you can hear the sound of Sukarno, the First President of the Republic of Indonesia was reading the text of the Declaration of Independence

If you want to go to the top, an elevator (lift) on the south entrance will bring visitors to the apex court measuring 11 x 11 meters at a height of 115 meters above the ground. The Lift has a capacity of 11 people. The top of the monument can accommodate about 50 people, and there is a panoramic view of Jakarta, you can use binoculars for a closer look. From the top of the Monas, visitors can enjoy spectacular views across the city.

Monas is topped by a 14.5 ton bronze Flame of Independence containing the lift engine. The base of the flame, in the shape of a goblet, is 3 metres high. The bronze flame structure measures 14 metres in height and 6 metres in diameter, It consists of 77 sections. Originally the bronze flame structure was covered with 35 kgof gold foil. However during the 50th anniversary of Indonesian independence in 1995, the gold foil was recoated and increased to 50 kg.

How to get here (see the route map):

From Gondangdia /Cikini go to platform 1 and  take Red Line or Blue Line heading to Jakarta Kota and stop at Juanda. Take a 21-minute walk to the south.

From Tanah Abang go to platform 3 and take the Yellow Line heading to Depok/Nambo/Bogor and stop at Manggarai. Go to platform 3/5 and  take Red Line or Blue Line heading to Jakarta Kota and stop at Juanda. Take a 21-minute walk to the south.

From Sudirman go to platform 2 and take the Yellow Line heading to Depok/Nambo/Bogor and stop at Manggarai. Go to platform 3/5 and  take Red Line or Blue Line heading to Jakarta Kota and stop at Juanda. Take a 21-minute walk to the south.

See the link map or the map below

Reference

http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monumen_Nasional

http://kumpulan.info/wisata/tempat-wisata/53-tempat-wisata/102-monas-monumen-nasional-jakarta.html

http://ariesaksono.wordpress.com/2008/01/18/monumen-nasional-tugu-monas/

http://jakarta.okezone.com/read/2012/07/10/408/661270/lelah-keliling-monas-naik-kereta-wisata-saja

http://sosbud.kompasiana.com/2012/07/09/wisatawan-monas-murah-meriah/