Javanese New Year rituals start Thursday

Javanese New Year rituals start Thursday

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As the Islamic New Year, also known as the Javanese New Year,
is coming tomorrow, many Javanese people start performing their
tradition to celebrate the holiday with certain rituals that
might surprise "modern" people.

Not only do they fast and pray. Washing weapons, especially
the heirlooms, is a must.

"Weapons, like keris (Javanese dagger) and spear, symbolize
the body needs to be cleansed from all wrongdoings in order to be
ready to receive blessings from God," Sri Lestari, head of the
Weapon Museum in Indonesia in Miniature Park (TMII) in East
Jakarta, said on Wednesday.

Alluding to the recent floods as a sign of the nature, Sri
revealed that the celebration was a good opportunity to ponder
the people's faults and renewed intention to repent their
wrongdoings.

"Starting tomorrow, I will fast for three days, and have an
intensive personal prayer to reflect upon all what I have done
wrong during the bygone year," she said.

Taman Mini is organizing a one-month long event to celebrate
the holiday, from a shadow puppet (wayang) show, heirloom washing
and exhibition to a concert featuring local artist Rhoma Irama,
who will perform Muslim songs.

Weapon vendors at Rawabening market in Jatinegara, East
Jakarta are expected to sell more weapons.

"Our sales should jump considerably, selling five keris in the
Suro month from only one or two a month at other times," Roem,
45, a keris vendor said.

Roem said he sold keris at between Rp 150,000 and Rp 4 million
each, depending on its material.

Roem who came from East Java, said he ran his business since
his childhood and his ancestors worked as traditional
sheathmakers (mranggi).

Aside from purchasing the new weapons, it has been tradition
among Javanese to wash their weapons during the month. The
weapons are washed in water with seven types of flowers (kembang
setaman), magic spells, and sulphur water.

"We also accept orders to wash the weapons," said Hengki, 30
another vendor.

He charged people who want to have a keris washed between Rp
25,000 and Rp 30,000.

Noted scholar Mochtar Buchori commented that mysticism in the
rituals was a symbol of the immaturity of the people's
religiosity here.

"Such practice is a clear form of syncretism between Islam
religion and Javanese culture," he said.

However, he admitted that the practices were a common
collective process of the people in search of their existential
security for themselves.

"If the people's faith in their own religions and God are
half-baked, they will seek another protection from other-than-God
suprahuman agencies, like in keris or other weapons which are
considered sacred," he said.

It is tradition to celebrate the first day of Muharam (in
calendar) or first day of Suro month (in Javanese calendar) dated
back to the reign of Sultan Agung Hanyakrakoesoema who ruled in
the 19th century in Mataram kingdom, which was then divided into
two kingdoms, Kasultanan Yogyakarta and Kasunanan Surakarta.

It was aimed to pacify the two major groups of Hinduism and
Islam believers at that time by adopting a lunar system of
Islamic calendar of Hijrah instead of solar system which is used
in Hinduism (Saka calendar system). The new calendar system
started from 155 years of Saka calendar system.