A blend of Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic cultures

Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung

Historically, tapis cloth from Lampung began to be developed around 800 A.D. as, for example, and is referred to in the Record of King Belitang dated 898 to 915 A.D.

The cloth was first developed by people living in Menggala, Tulangbawang regency and Kenali (West Lampung).

Further evidence of the long history of tapis are the collections now kept in museums in Britain and the United States. It is estimated that the tapis cloth in this collection is some 400 years old. Several Lampung cultural experts have even gone further back in time, saying that tapis cloth was already known in prehistoric times.

One of Lampung's cultural activists, Iwan Nurdaya Djafar, said that in bygone days a piece of tapis, made of woven cloth embroidered with gold, silver or silk thread, reflected someone's social status. Usually a needle and yellow thread were used to make a piece of tapis cloth. The embroidery is made on a cotton woven sarong with horizontal lines as its basic motif.

A piece of tapis, which differs in function depending on its decorative motif, is actually part of a set of ritual paraphernalia. The cloth fulfills social, religious, aesthetic and economic roles in traditional Lampung communities.

In the religious sphere, tapis cloth is usually worn in ceremonies relating to rites of passage, including religious rites. The decorative motif on the cloth worn for this particular purpose symbolizes Lampung people's belief in the grandeur of nature and the greatness of God.

The decorative motifs of tapis cloth are works of art that has great aesthetic and historical value.

Iwan Nurdaya Djafar, who is also noted as a translator of classical works and as a poet, said that in the past, tapis cloth was worn on the basis of someone's social status.

He added that in the old days tapis was usually made to fulfill a community's needs in their traditional rites. "As time changes, a community's needs also change. Tapis cloth is now sold to the public and has gradually lost its symbolic and religious functions," Iwan said.

Tapis cloth, he added, was not only esthetically beautiful but also implied moral, magical and religious content in the symbols found in its decorative motifs. The value inherent in tapis cloth reflects human life.

The symbolic values that tapis cloth contains usually take the form of a plant, an animal, an object or a human being. These symbols reflect the inter-relationship between man and nature, man and man, as well as man and God. You can also find tapis cloth embroidered with boat motifs, a symbol of the country's resource-rich seas.

These motifs have been used since the times of Hindu kingdoms in Indonesia. Later, with the advent of Islam, the establishment of Islamic kingdoms in this country and the arrival of Arabian, Persian and Indian merchants in Lampung (then called the Land of Ruwai Jurai) between 1500 and 1700, these motifs were modified with Islamic designs.

The development of tapis cloth became richer with the introduction of Javanese culture through trade activities in the Malacca and Sunda Straits.

An ancient piece of tapis cloth, Iwan said, was usually of excellent quality because it was not made for commercial purposes. In those days, muli, the local word for young women, and housewives in Lampung would spend as much time as it would take to make a high-quality piece.

"The social norm prevailing in the past in Lampung was that someone would be isolated if he or she did not possess a piece of tapis cloth. This explains why Lampung people are generally skilled at making it. They certainly did not want to be ostracized," Iwan said.

Uniquely, skill in making tapis will determine whether or not a Lampung girl is perceived as being of good behavior and fine character. "That is no longer the case now, although it is still common practice for a young man wishing to marry a Lampung girl to give her several pieces of tapis cloth.

"This is quite burdensome for the young man as tapis is becoming increasingly expensive," said Iwan, formerly chairman of Lampung Arts Council.

Meanwhile, Rusli Syukur, a Lampung artist and also a tapis expert, said that the motifs created for tapis cloth were closely linked with the reality of the times concerned. These motifs, which have undergone changes brought about by the three major religions in the past -- Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam -- continue to develop through an acculturation process, without abandoning its original identity.

Now mass-produced, however, tapis cloth is no longer confined only to certain circles.

"Industrialization has led to a shift in the symbolic functions of tapis cloth. Today the tapis cloth-making industry prioritizes its economic aspect over its religious and sociological facets," Rusli noted.

He added that in the past tapis cloth was made only by women to while away their spare time. "They made the cloth not for business but for sacred and religious purposes," said Rusli, who has developed his own tapis motifs, which are usually used to decorate buildings constructed in a Lampung architectural style.