One way for identifying history of Yogyakarta Palace is by finding the existence of the Yogyakarta Palace gates. They are the gateways into the palace area. In the history of Yogyakarta Palace there were five gates where the top shape of each gate was curve so that the gates were also called Plengkung. Plengkung means curve.

 

The fifth plengkung are as follows:

• Plengkung Madyasura, located on the eastern side of Yogyakarta Palace. It was closed on June 23, 1812. Therefore, it’s known as Plengkung Buntet (closed). In the reign of Sultan Hamengkubuwono VIII, it was demolished and then replaced with an ordinary gate.

• Plengkung Nirbaya, located on the south of Alun-alun Selatan. Nirbaya derived from the word "nir", which means nothing, and the word "baya" which means danger. So it has a philosophy of quiet from danger. Plengkung Nirboyo also became the exit gate for the sultan and his family’s corpses when they were going to be buried. Nowdays, Plengkung Nirboyo is well known as Plengkung Gading because of its location in the Gading area.

• Plengkung Jagabaya. In the Javanese, “jaga” means “keep”, and "baya" means danger. So, it’s philosophied as a gate for keeping from danger. It is located on the west side of the Yogyakarta palace fortress wall, and on the west of Ngasem Market and Tamansari (WaterCastle). Currently it has turned into an ordinary gate and is commonly called as Plengkung Tamansari because it’s located close to the tourism area of Tamansari.

• Plengkung Jagasura, located on the west of Alun-alun Utara. Jagasura derived from the word "jaga" which means “to keep”, and the word "sura" which means “brave”. Once, It was guarded by the brave troops

From the fifth gates above, we can find that only Plengkung Tarunasura/ Plengkung Wijilan and Plengkung Nirbaya/ Plengkung Gading which are still stand with their building authenticity until now.