Celebration goes on despite royal dispute
Celebration goes on despite royal dispute
Blontank Poer, The Jakarta Post/Surakarta, Central Java
A conflict over the royal succession has plagued the Surakarta
Hadiningrat Palace for the past several months, but that did not
seem to prevent people from celebrating the Javanese New Year's
Eve at the palace on Wednesday night until very early on
Thursday.
Although there were rumors that the kirab pusaka (ritual
parading of the palace's sacred objects) would not take place
because of the conflict, people still gathered at the palace.
And it wasn't only local at the palace, but people from other
cities throughout Central Java as well as from East Java.
The palace considers Suro a sacred month, so it is always
during this time that it conducts a ritual to wash or bathe all
of the sacred belongings of the palace. After all the sacred
objects such as kris and spears are washed, some of them are
paraded around the palace on New Year's Eve to give people the
opportunity to see them.
Thousands of royal servants dressed in traditional clothes
usually join the parade. Yet, the biggest attraction are the Kyai
Slamet, nine sacred albino buffaloes, which always lead the
parade.
Locals believe the animals possess certain supernatural
powers. Some come to the parade just to collect some of the
animals' feces or urine, which they believe can bring them
fortune and cure diseases.
"I'll be lucky I can get a bit of Kyai Slamet's feces. I need
this for my grandchild. I'll rub some on his forehead to cure the
fever that he has been suffering," Sukirmanto, 71, of Ngawi, East
Java, told The Jakarta Post.
Sujini, 63, of Kedung Banteng, Sragen regency, Central Java,
was pleased to be at the ritual. "Surakarta Palace is the
spiritual kiblat (direction) of the Javanese people. That's why
I always try to manage to get here every New Year's Eve."
Both Sukirmanto and Sujini said they were not concerned about
the royal conflict that had led to two rival princes claiming to
be the rightful rulers of the palace.
"I'm just an ordinary person. I have no idea about the
conflict. What I know is that the palace is the spiritual kiblat
of the Javanese people," Sujini said.
This year's parade of the palace's sacred belongings was
officially started by Kanjeng Gusti Pangeran Haryo Hangabehi, who
has crowned himself head of Surakarta Palace and named himself
Pakubuwono XIII.
The parade began at Puri Kamandungan in the compound of the
palace several minutes after midnight. At least 13 sacred royal
objects were paraded around the palace during the ceremony.
Although the parade and the celebrations looked merry outside
the palace, the situation inside was not quite so cheerful.
The washing of the sacred objects was not conducted openly.
Nor was it attended by government or former government officials
who have been awarded royal titles from the palace, as in the
past. Only Surakarta Major Slamet Suryanto was seen at the
washing ceremony.
This year's celebration of the Javanese New Year, or Suro 1,
1938 Wawu, according to the Javanese calendar, which fell on Feb.
10, in Surakarta was the first since the death of Surakarta's
Sultan ISKS Pakoeboewono XII.
A prince of the palace who asked for anonymity told the Post
it was impossible for KGPH Hangabehi to hold the washing
procession for the palace's sacred belongings because the keys to
the Ndalem Ageng (special room in the palace where the sacred
belongings are kept) were in the hands of KGPH
Tejowulan.
"There is no way he can remove the sacred belongings from the
room by force because everyone is afraid of the (spiritual)
consequences," said the prince.
In the conflict, the Tejowulan camp, which is outside the
palace, controls the keys to the room in the palace containing
the sacred belongings. The Hangabehi camp, on the other hand,
while it does not have access to the sacred room, does occupy the
palace.
Both camps have filed complaints against each other with the
local police. Even the presence of a number of former government
officials failed to bring the two camps to the negotiating table
on Monday. No representatives of either of the
camps showed up at the meeting site at a restaurant in Surakarta.
That is probably why prominent figures such as former TNI
chief KPA (Kangjeng Pangeran Adipati) Wiranto, former state
secretary KPH (Kangjeng Pangeran Haryo) Moerdiono Hadisapoetro
and former minister of population KP (Kangjeng Pangeran) Haryono
Suyono, who in the past always attended the palace procession,
preferred to gather at another location in Surakarta.
"I will not come to the palace and perform a pisowanan (pay a
visit to the sultan) on the eve of Suro," Wiranto said prior to
the celebration.
These three figures are among those who have tried to act as
mediators in the conflict. They have tried to arrange meetings
between KGPH Hangabehi and KGPH Tejowulan, who have both crowned
themselves the new sultans of the palace, but to no avail.