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.