Berchman Heroe, Contributor, Temanggung, Central Java
For years, every village head in Traji -- a remote village in Keparakan, Temanggung -- has had to do more than just take care of his people. Every year, at Sura, the first month according to the Javanese calendar, he has to be remarried.
The tradition is done during a special ritual and place, at the Sendang Sidukun, a natural spring that is the main water supply for the whole village and its surrounding, and it is always performed during on the eve of Sura, a sacred month for the Javanese.
The tradition has been well preserved at Traji, and every village head candidate should be willing to perform the annual ritual once he is elected.
At the ritual, the village head is not required to marry a new woman, but renew his wedding vows with his present wife.
"This is the fourth time I'm being remarried to my wife since I was elected as Traji head village in 1999," Traji head village Ariyanto said of his recent "marriage" on Sura 1 this year, which fell on March 4, 2003.
According to Bandung native Ariyanto, who is a former paramedic, all the expenses for the ritual, which costs some Rp 13.5 million, comes from the villagers' donations.
"They set up a special committee to prepare the ritual, including collecting the donations from the community, and the offerings," he said.
Villagers, some 3,000 of them, voluntarily pay, believing the ceremony's success would bring wealth and peace to the village and community.
The ritual itself is comprised of two main events, a kacar- kucur rite and shadow puppet show all night long. Shadow puppet master from Bantul regency in Yogyakarta, Ki Timbul Hadiprayitno Cermo Manggolo, staged the show in the recent ritual.
During the kacar-kucur rite, which symbolizes the villagers' hope for continuous wealth in the area, the "groom" was required to pour a mixture of yellow rice, coins, green beans and soybeans over the "bride"'s lap.
The entire procession started at about 6 p.m. from the village office -- which were specially decorated for the occasion. Both Ariyanto and his wife Sri Pudjiastuti -- as the groom and the bride, wore traditional Javanese wedding costumes along with the accessories.
The procession then proceeded to the main site of the ritual, Sendang Sidukun, which was located some 600 meters from the village office.
Senior village official Junaedi led the ceremony at the Sendang Sidukun by burning incense and reciting a mantra in which its opening line means, "Men can lie, but incense cannot...." The bride and groom were then required to drink water from a prepared bowl before leaving the site for a tour around the village.
Once "the newly married" couple left the spring, Traji villagers, including those who came from surrounding villages, immediately pushed forward to take some of the offerings and water from the spring, believing the offerings and the water would help them maintain their youth and bring good fortune.
As the villagers were busy, the couple continued their tour. Along the way, they stopped by for a brief moment at six other sacred springs -- Kali Bong, Puring, Sendang Kalijaga, Kali Panas, Kali Wedak and Kali Lanang, to say their prayers.
At these particular places, spectators would compete for the flowers worn by both the bride and groom, believing it would provide them with good fortune.
When the couple reached the main road leading to the village office, they made another stop to buy something from several street vendors offering their merchandise along the way while repeatedly yelling, "Laris, Laris" (sold out, sold out).
The vendors would feel lucky if the couple bought something from them, believing it as a sign of good fortune and wealth. They even kept the coins used by the couple to buy their produce, treating them as charms.
Another ritual was also held just before midnight at the same day, until about 2 a.m. the following day. The main objective of this event was to present offerings to the spirits overseeing the nearby Gumuk Goci hill.
The night long shadow puppet performance was held the following evening in front of the village hall.
A custom of distributing fine rice porridge locally known as bubur sumsum a few days after the main ritual marked the end of the entire event.
Recorded history does not tell us when the tradition was first started. But stories have it that it started following a dream of Traji's former village secretary Sukandar. According to stories, the late Sukandar met Kyai Agung, believed to be guardian spirit of Sendang Sidukun. In the dream, he was told to conduct the wedding ceremony, prepare offerings and stage a night long shadow puppet show.
"We just want to uphold the tradition," said Ariyanto. He said the ritual was actually expected to help preserve the sacred Sendang Sidukun spring as the village's main water resource.