TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Embassy (KBRI) in Moscow celebrated the 72nd Independence Day by featuring gamelan ensemble presented by the Indonesian and Russian players yesterday, August 17.

Ilya Kolnin, 19, fluently played the Javanese musical instrument on stage. "I learned the gamelan here (KBRI)," the student of Higher School of Economics told Tempo after the performance.

Kolnin firstly fell in love with wayang, Indonesian puppet. "When I was a child, I went to the Oriental museum and saw wayang. I just fell in love," said Kolnin as she told her story on how much she loves the Indonesian culture.

Another fluent gamelan player, Anna Mamedova, explained on how did she fall for gamelan and decided to learn to play it at the embassy. "It's very beautiful," said Mamedova who also learns the Indonesian language.

See: Indonesia's 72nd Independence Day Celebrations

The students of Indonesian language class at KBRI are taught to play gamelan. And they are happy to show their skills on the independence day celebration.

The gamelan ensemble is the peak event of the Indonesia's Independence Day commemoration in Moscow. In the morning, they held the flag-raising ceremony. It followed by the musical and traditional dances performance by the students of Indonesian School in Moscow, as well as karaoke competition for the Russian people.

The event not only attended by the Indonesian citizens and/or Indonesian tourists in Moscow or other cities such as St. Petersburg, but also the Russian people, especially those who have lived in or visited Indonesia.

Russian Ambassador to Indonesia in the period of 1999-2004, Vladimir Plotnikov, looked enthusiastic at the Thursday's event, starting from the flag-raising ceremony. "Happy Independence Day, Indonesia. Happy anniversary," he said.

Plotnikov admitted he always attend the Indonesia's Independence Day celebration if he has no important schedule. He lived in Indonesia for more than 20 years. "Indonesia is my second country," said the man who likes Indonesian foods such as Soto Bandung and Nasi Goreng.

Indonesian Ambassador to Russia M. Wahid Supriyadi said the participation of the Russian society added the attractiveness of the Independence Day celebration. "Not only they attended the official ceremony, they also participated in playing the gamelan," he said.

Earlier, the KBRI has held several events as the series of Indonesia's Independence Day celebration, such as the sports competitions.

PURWANI DIYAH PRABANDARI (MOSCOW)