'Congkokan', a Javanese centenarian ceremony
By Bambang M
YOGYAKARTA (JP): The Javanese people were once known to strongly hold their centuries-old traditions. Yet, in the modern era, many think such traditions irrational with traditional ceremonies a waste of time and money.
As a result, not many young people understand the importance and the philosophy behind the traditions of their ancestors.
One of the rare traditional ceremonies is congkokan. This ceremony is performed to honor someone reaching 100 years of age.
The ceremony is rarely held because only a few people reach their 100th birthday. Sugiyah, who was born on April 19, l900, is very lucky. She is still healthy and happy and celebrated her 100th birthday last Saturday (April 22). Her large family -- children, grandchildren and great children -- held a congkokan ceremony in their residence in Demangan area.
"We conduct this ceremony to express our gratitude to God for giving health and long life to our mother," said Rakimas, Sugiyah's fifth son, adding that his mother has six children, 88 grandchildren and several great grandchildren from her two marriages.
The main procession of the ceremony is angon putu (herding of grandchildren). This was done by taking all her grandchildren to the nearest market. Grandmother Sugiyah then took her 88 grandchildren to the formal area of Demangan, 500 meters from her house.
Sugiyah carried a whip and struck it onto the ground to mark the beginning of the procession. Her grandchildren followed her to the market. The convoy was like a carnival attracting a large crowd from the neighborhood. All family members were dressed in lavish Javanese traditional costumes.
"This must be part of the Kartini Day ceremony, " said an onlooker. Kartini Day was commemorated by Indonesians on April 21 to honor Kartini, the national heroine and one of the pioneers in women's emancipation movement.
At the market, she gave Rp 1,000 to each grandchild to buy traditional cakes and snacks such as lumpia (pancake), ager-ager (jelly) and dawet (traditional beverage made of colored rice and coconut milk).
"They had to eat the food at the market. They were not allowed to bring food to their house," explained Gatot Marsono, a Javanese cultural observer. The procession symbolized the unity and togetherness of the family.
The market event lasted for about 30 minutes. Sugiyah announced the conclusion by striking her whip three times, then led the procession home.
After the angon putu procession, all family members gathered at home to kneel (sungkeman) to the birthday grandmother.
Sugiyah sat at the center of the room and the members of the family paid their respects one by one to their beloved mother and grandmother.
After sungkeman, she then poured water from an earthenware water jug, known as a kendi, over the head of the eldest son, Sarbini, 60. This was done as a symbol that good fortune will always flow smoothly as the flow of the water from the pitcher.
Sugiyah then broke the jug by throwing it onto the ground. The broken pieces were wrapped into six small bags and given to her six children. The presentation of the kendi shards represents her hope that all of her children will be blessed with happiness and prosperity.
Four different kinds of tumpeng (ceremonial dish of rice served in a cone shape) were presented during prayers. They included a tumpeng robyong, a tumpeng kencono, and two tumpeng suci or sacred tumpeng.
The ceremony took almost the whole day. In the evening, Sugiyah's family held a Koran recital to complete the Javanese centenarian ceremony.