Festival promotes cultural tour of silver town
Festival promotes cultural tour of silver town
YOGYAKARTA (JP): As a town of about 400 years of age, Kotagede
is blessed with numerous attractions. In addition to the many
archaeological remains of the first Islamic kingdom of Mataram,
the residents' lives are also fascinating.
Kotagede is well-known for its refined craftsmen, who work
with gold, silver, copper, horn and who also produce kris
(swords). They, generally, have inherited their skills from their
ancestors.
They usually work in traditional joglo houses, built several
hundred years ago. Their activities are not known to many. From
outside, people will see nothing, as if there is no activity
within the houses. But inside, dynamic activities are in
progress.
"Kotagede is a haven for cultural tourism," said Ahmad Charris
Zuibair, chief of the Center for Study, Documentation and
Kotagede Cultural Development (Pusdok).
In Zubair's view, there are good reasons why Kotagede is ideal
for cultural tours in Yogyakarta. Cultural attractions in the
historical town are, among other things, the old village itself
and folk arts like srandul, keroncong music, kethoprak ongkek
opera and the sholawatan aqoid Islamic orchestra.
Kotagede retains the feel of a typical old Javanese town with
its vintage properties, and boasts a wide variety of traditional
arts, industry and food. But, unfortunately, the great potential
is not properly promoted and few know of it.
Pusdok, as an institution having a great interest in the
entire historical inheritance of Kotagede, has begun to champion
the promotion of Kotagede as a cultural tourist resort. The
Kotagede Cultural Tour undertaking, however, has not shown the
desired results.
The package offers a variety of tour activities that allow
tourists to see the exotic town and the people's lives.
The cost varies depending on the number of group members and
sites to visit. For instance, a group of 20 people visiting four
tourist sites is charged Rp 12,000 per participant. But if there
is just one participant, the fee is Rp 69,000.
If a single participant wants to visit 12 places, he or she
will have to pay Rp 150,000. But if there are more than 20
people, the cost is lowered to Rp 90,000 per person.
"We are still helping Kotagede residents to run their own
tourist business," says Shinta from the Kanthil Foundation, which
has a special interest in the cultural development and
conservation of Kotagede.
The ongoing Kotagede Festival 2000 will last until Sept. 2 and
aims to encourage the residents to learn about the town's tourism
potential and history of their hometown. It is the second to have
been held over the past two years.
"There is a lot of tourist potential which has yet to be
exploited," said the chairman of the Committee of Kotagede
Festival 2000, M. Natsier.
The festival also means to show the world that Kotagede has
more than just handicrafts. "Kotagede is rich in cultural
heritage," Natsier said.
It features a wide variety of games, such as egrang (bamboo
stilt) races, panjat pinang (climbing race to get prizes at the
top of a tree) and arm wrestling. Cultural shows include the
jathilan dance, keroncong music, kethoprak opera, mocopat
(Javanese folk song recital) and shadow puppet shows.
Food such as roasted corn and roasted sticky rice cakes are a
major attraction. Workshops on the arts and the history of
Kotagede have also been organized to provide visitors with an
insight into the ancient town.
Each neighborhood (RW) in Kotagede takes part in the Cultural
Carnival in which they tell the story of a particular aspect of
the town to bystanders while they march down the road.
"The objective is to remind the Kotagede community members of
their town's history," says Sholehudin Basyori, chairman of the
festival committee.
The townsfolk are encouraged to learn more about their history
so that when they will become fully involved in tourism
activities in the future.
"They can become tourist guides and will have to explain
everything about Kotagede," said Sholehuddin.
-- Bambang M.