'Dugderan' marks the beginning of Ramadhan

Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Semarang

Jostling among thousands of people, a 55-year-old grandmother, Partiyah, from Simongan village, West Semarang, and her six-year- old grandson, Ardi, struggled to reach a good position along Jl. Pemuda in Semarang.

With her hands tightly holding Ardi's shoulders to keep him in front of her, Partiyah looked straight ahead, waiting for the arrival of the warak; mythical beasts used in the dugderan parade.

It was Thursday Oct. 14, the day before this year's fasting month of Ramadhan started -- the day of the dugderan, a traditional festival held to welcome the arrival of the holy month. Celebrating the tradition stretches back to 1881 when Semarang was under the rule of Regent RMTA Purbaningrat.

The highlight of the day is a Warak Ngendog (Egg-Laying Warak) procession, in which the figures up to 2.5 meters high, usually made of wood and covered with colorful oil paper, are paraded in a carnival from the Semarang City Hall to the Kauman Grand Mosque.

"Look! The warak is laying eggs."

Partiyah shouted this repeatedly as the procession passed along the street in front of her, while her grandson also eagerly observed the procession although he did not see any eggs being laid.

Being made of wood, with the body of a lion, a scaly skin and the head of a dragon atop a snaking neck, it's hardly surprising these effigies do not literally "lay" eggs, although real eggs do feature in the procession.

The beast, a symbol of bad deeds and worldliness, and the eggs, symbols of purity and renewal represent the journey through Ramadhan, when Muslims are expected to renounce worldly pleasures to reach purity by month's end.

Many believe the warak figure grew from the contact between Javanese and early Chinese settlers in the area.

Others say the mythical beast was inspired by the bouraq, the animal ridden by the Prophet Mohammad during his Isra' Mi'raj pilgrimage. However, there is no obvious resemblance between the warak and bouraq as the later is described in many religious texts.

The word dugderan is believed to be an onomatopoeic combination of the "dug-dug" sounds of a bedug, a large drum beaten at mosques to summon the faithful to prayer, and the (thun)"der-der" sounds of a cannon.

In the past, the drum was beaten before a cannon was fired to mark the beginning of Ramadhan.

Some say the word warak, comes from the Javanese word warah, which means good advice, while others say it is a derivation of the Arabic word wira'i, which means polite or obedient -- how Muslims are expected to behave during Ramadhan.

Whatever its original meaning, the effigies have become the central figures in the festivities.

No dugderan day goes ahead without a warak procession and smaller doll-sized versions of the beasts, of about 20 centimeters high, are sold at the festival for about Rp 15,000 each. Larger "goat-sized" dolls are sold 300,000 each, while the tallest ones can reach Rp 3 million.

Realizing the festival attracts people to Semarang, the local administration has developed the event into a tourist attraction.

As many as 14 groups participated in this year's festival held at Raden Saleh Cultural Center, with a group from Gajahmungkur village declared the champions.

During the festival, the medium-sized warak are carried by four male dancers on their shoulders, while women accompany them beating rebana (traditional tambourines), saron (metal gamelan drums) and gongs providing the accompanying music.

The dance has some resemblance to the Sisingaan dance of the Sundanese, which uses lion figures instead.

"We spent some Rp 3.5 million to come and participate in this festival. There are 20 of us in the group, including the musicians," said Widayat of Gajahmungkur, the group that has won the festival four years running.

To make the procession more festive, a temporary night market has been set up in the neighborhood around the Kauman Grand Mosque.

The market sells everything from traditional and modern textiles to electronic goods and features a carousel and a haunted house.

The dugderan is no longer just a traditional festival to mark the beginning of Ramadhan but also a day to shop, celebrate and show off a unique event to the world.