Courses preserve Javanese heritage

By Ahmad Solikhan

YOGYAKARTA (JP): A small wooden plaque with an inscription reading Pamulangan Sekar Kawedanan Hageng Punakawan (KHP) Kridhamardawa is hung on the wall of a traditional house with faded white paint.

Small, simple and without a yard, the house is located at Jl. Rotowijayan No. 3, just southeast of the subdistrict office of the Palace of Yogyakarta.

Inside, the house is partitioned by plywood boards into four rooms, each measuring 24 square meters, where people learn how to read and write Javanese characters and to recite mocopatan (the traditional Javanese poetry recited to the accompaniment gamelan music). Lit by a 25-watt bulb, each room is provided with a blackboard and some wooden chairs.

One of the students, 50-year-old Martini, who comes from Muntilan and has one child, said she was taking the KHP courses because she was eager to master mocopatan.

"As a Javanese, I fear that people will say I have lost my Javanese character if they discover I cannot sing the traditional Javanese songs. Besides, I can always pass this skill on to my child and grandchildren," said Martini, a civil servant who works at Muntilan General Hospital.

Another student, Slamet, 40, a father of two from Godean, Sleman, said he wanted to apply for a position as an abdi dalem, a high-ranking court servant. But he does not think he is fit for this position because of his inability to read and write Javanese or to recite traditional Javanese poetry.

"It would be much better for an abdi dalem to master the mlipis (refined) language, because otherwise he would be an embarrassment," said Slamet, who now teaches at Godean State High School I.

KHP Kridhawardana is led by Gusti Bandara Prabu Harya Yudhoningrat, one of the sons of Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX. Its activities are carried out every day between 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., except on Sundays and holidays. The schedule is chosen to ensure that the activities will not interfere with the routine activities of its participants, most of whom are in their 40s, employed and married.

There are no special requirements for those wishing to join KHP Kridhamardawa, said Yudhoningrat, himself in charge of the Javanese gamelan music, shadow plays with leather puppets, wooden puppet shows and Javanese stage shows at the school. What is most important is a strong desire to learn. Anybody, regardless of age, education level or citizenship, may join.

Developing educational institutions specializing in culture is not as easy as running other general educational institutions, which tend to be more sought after by the public. "Pamulangan Sekar is concerned with cultural conservation and is therefore quite different from other general educational institutions," Yudhoningrat said.

Pamulangan Sekar receives most of its funding from the palace, which is good since its three classes only attract about 45 participants, most of whom are elderly.

Young people are more easily influenced by Western culture, which is the dominating aspect in our modern age, he said. Unless this alien culture is kept under control, filtered and adjusted to a local culture replete with moral teachings on life, youngsters will be easily vulnerable to liquor, drugs and pornography, all associated with Western culture.

At its inception, Yudhoningrat said, Pamulangan Sekar was set up by Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono VII to provide education to the palace children, wayah and court relatives, in addition to conserving Javanese culture, providing exemplary models to high- ranking servants of the court and blocking the influx of ill- suited Western culture.

Upon his demise, Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono VII was replaced by Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono VIII, who relaxed regulations to allow high-ranking court servants to join this educational undertaking. Then in the 1950s, Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX, who succeeded Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono VIII, expanded the scope of Pamulangan Sekar by allowing the general public to join it.

The current sultan believes that the conservation of Javanese culture should not come from palace circles alone, but also from a general public well versed in Javanese culture and suitable to be held up as models.

Speaking in a similar vein, Mas Riya Prajaswasana, a court official and a member of the secretariat of KHP Kridhamardawa, said there were no requirements for registration.

New students are required to pay Rp 7,500 for lesson materials for grades 1, 2 and 3 and a course fee of Rp 5,000 a month. Those in grades 1, 2 and 3 must come twice a week. The schedule for grade 1 (Sekar Alit) is Monday and Thursday, grade 2 (Sekar Tengahan) Tuesday and Friday and grade 3 (Sekar Ageng) Wednesday and Saturday.

Each grade takes half a year to complete. The graduation is held inside the palace in a ceremony led by Yudhoningrat. During the graduation ceremony, each student is required to don peranakan attire. "Every participant will get a certificate from the palace," Prajaswasana said.

Because on Fridays the gamelan cannot be played, all of the students are allowed to recite mocopatan inside the palace between 8 a.m. and noon. This is also a way to test the confidence of the participants, their pronunciation and their ability to read notation. Besides, it also entertains the tourists.

Prajaswasana said KHP Kridhamardawa, in which seven court officials are involved, has often had foreigners as participants. Usually these participants, from Canada, Great Britain and Japan, are in Yogyakarta on scholarships or as tourists.

Their main difficulties are in pronunciation and how to read notation. "They join Pamulangan Sekar only out of curiosity. Usually they are merely interested in learning how to recite traditional Javanese poetry and will not wait for the completion of a course," said Prajaswasana.

To be curious about something is better than to have no interest at all, said Prajaswasana. Proof of this is that many of the present high-ranking court servants cannot write or read Javanese and neither can they recite traditional Javanese poetry.

Unless something is done to rectify this situation, Javanese culture will be in great danger, he said. It is required that high-ranking court servants dedicate themselves to Ngarso Dalem (Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X) and master the basics of Javanese culture, to ensure that once they lives among the general public they will be able to serve as role models.

"I hope my criticism will be heard by relevant parties," Prajaswasana said.

May this hope come true for the sake of Javanese culture. In this light, candidates aspiring to be high-ranking court servants and the high-ranking court servants within the palace must be required to read and write Javanese and recite traditional Javanese poetry, as these skills are considered necessary to maintain and develop Javanese culture.