Berchman Heroe, Contributor, Temanggung, Central Java

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.