'Jathilan' artists march to palace

YOGYAKARTA: Some 1,000 members of the newly formed Association of People's Traditional Art (PKTK) staged a rally at Yogyakarta Palace to express their support for the continuation of the province's status as a special region.

Dressed in traditional dance Jathilan costume, they marched some three kilometers from Tugu to the palace to meet Sultan Hamengkubuwono X.

During the march to the palace, the association members performed the Jathilan dance.

Representatives of the association were received by GPH Yudhaningrat, the younger brother of Hamengkubuwono X as the sultan was not in the palace.

"Yogyakarta's special status has its roots in the country's history. We should not ignore our own history," the association's coordinator Tommon Hawi said in the meeting.

The status was granted by first president Soekarno as it had remained a sovereign kingdom when the country declared its independence in 1945. (44)