Javanese set to celebrate 'Satu Suro'
Javanese set to celebrate 'Satu Suro'
Suherdjoko and Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post/Semarang/Yogyakarta
Thousands of people in Yogyakarta and Central Java are expected
to participate in the traditional celebration of Satu Suro, the
new year according to the Javanese calendar, which coincides with
the Islamic New Year.
In Surakarta, one of cultural centers on Java island, the Pura
Mangkunegaran and Surakarta Hadiningrat Palaces will hold
separate parades that will encircle the respective palaces in the
city on Wednesday night or on the eve of Satu Suro.
In the parade, the leading families of each palace will carry
the palace's coat of arms. Thousands of people will attend the
processions.
Later on Thursday morning, Surakarta Hadiningrat Palace
officials will float offerings at five locations in Surakarta,
including in Dlepih Beach here.
Meanwhile, thousands of people in the city will celebrate Satu
Suro by meditating, fasting and bathing in rivers as a
purification ritual.
For the Javanese, Satu Suro is a sacred day and is celebrated
solemnly.
In Semarang city, people will celebrate the eve of Satu Suro
by staying submerged in the Garang River near Soeharto Monument,
some two kilometers west of downtown Semarang.
"I always stay submerged in the Garang River on the eve of
Satu Suro. I have done it for years," said Suroto, a Semarang
resident.
In Yogyakarta, Satu Suro celebrations on some beaches in the
province will be delayed due to a recent warning by the governor
that a storm would strike the southern coastal area of Yogyakarta
in February.
No one is expected to celebrate Satu Suro along the Yogyakarta
coast, following the announcement by Yogyakarta Governor Sri
Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, who is also the Sultan of Yogyakarta.
The sultan, based on a report by the local Meteorology and
Geophysics Agency (BMG), had earlier said that people had to
avoid the southern coastal areas of Yogyakarta as a storm would
strike in the area between Feb. 8 and 13.
Instead of holding the celebration on the beach, the sultan
has instructed Yogyakarta Palace officials to pray in mosques
near the palace for the safety and prosperity of Yogyakarta
residents, as reported by tempointeraktif news portal.
Rudjito, the chief of fishermen's association at Samas beach,
said that the planned ceremony on Samas Beach would be held on
February 20, or about a week after the expected storm.
In the ceremony, the fishermen will float the head of a
butchered buffalo as an offering to the keeper of the Indian
Ocean in order that she bestows prosperity and safety on the
fishermen in the new year. A similar ceremony will also be held
on Feb. 24 at Parangtritis beach by the Hondo Dento Foundation, a
foundation that is dedicated to the preservation of Javanese
culture.