Community perceptions of the authenticity of the houses in Kampung Majapahit: a legacy of Indonesian glory in the past

The purpose of this study is to explore the authenticity of the design of the houses in the Kampung Majapahit program (kampung means a village or neighborhood). This program aims to provide identity to a region that is believed to be the former location of the Majapahit Kingdom, which existed from 1293 to 1486 AD. Based on architecture, archeology, and anthropological theories, a qualitative approach is used through in-depth interviews with community leaders, cultural experts, and the local community around the program location, which is in Trowulan Subdistrict in Mojokerto Regency, East Java. The results of these interviews have been grouped based on the findings that they yielded to facilitate a discussion of the research results. The findings of this study indicate that the design of the Kampung Majapahit houses does not fully represent houses from the Majapahit Kingdom era in an authentic way. In fact, this program was set up solely for the purposes of tourism, although it has as yet not been fully successful in this regard. The simplicity of the design of the Majapahit-era houses in this program is due to the government’s limited budget.