A sacred seat of power, the palace is to this day occupied by the sultan – currently Hamengkubuwono X – who is roughly equivalent to a governor. Its layout reflects Javanese cosmogony: the multiple courtyards and buildings are laid out around the Pendopo Pagelaran, the audience pavilion, and set along an axis that links Mt Merapi (residence of the gods) in the north to the Indian Ocean and the goddess Nyai Loro Kidul (with whom the sultan enjoyed a special relationship) in the south. The pride and joy of the palace is the Bangsal Kencana (Golden Pavilion), a particularly ornate pendopo that symbolises the sacred mountain.