Javnese traditions mark Tommy's wedding
JAKARTA (JP): After years of a public guessing game over who would be his wife, flamboyant businessman Hutomo Mandala Putra finally tied the knot on Wednesday morning.
The bride chosen by President Soeharto's youngest son was Raden Ajeng Ardhia Pramesti Regita Cahyani, nicknamed Tata, a fair-skinned descendant of the Mangkunegaran royal family of Surakarta, Central Java.
Tommy's selection would no doubt have pleased his mother, the late Mrs. Tien Soeharto. A member of the Mangkunegaran family herself, she had reportedly wished for her son to marry a woman of noble birth.
The wedding of the year at Sasono Langen Budoyo Hall in the Taman Mini Indonesia Indah park in East Jakarta brought a crowd of 3,500 dignitaries, including politicians taking time off from their general election duties.
The couple's siblings and close relatives were on hand for the three-hour-long ceremony. In attendance were Tommy's brothers Bambang Trihatmodjo and Sigit Hardjojudanto, and his sisters Titiek Prabowo and Mamiek Pratikto. His eldest sister Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, who is popularly known as Mbak Tutut, accompanied her father.
Red and green carpets decked the hall. A colorful blanket of jasmine, roses, orchids and other flowers covered the room. There was also the traditional janur bouquet of coconut leaves.
The ceremony, a mix of the wedding traditions of the Surakarta royal court and Islamic tenets, began at 9 a.m. when the groom recited the ijab kabul wedding vow. Custom prohibits the bride from attending this ritual. She was represented by her father, Bambang Adjie Surjosubandoro. Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie and Minister of National Development Planning Ginanjar Kartasasmita were witnesses for the groom.
After the recitation of the wedding vow, the bride and the groom came together to perform a series of wedding rituals rich in symbolism and philosophical tenets.
The groom was bare-chested but his waist was wrapped in a band of multiple layers of voluminous gold-trimmed batik, called kampuhan. He also donned the traditional light-blue tubular hat and long pantaloons. Befitting her lineage, Tata wore the Surakarta wedding attire of dodot basahan Solo batik embellished with the special royal motif.
"Only noble family members may wear these wedding clothes," said Tinuk Riefki, the bridal make-up artist. "All the materials are the collection of the Soeharto family."
The rites were played out against the lilting tones of traditional Javanese music known as gending Ladrang Wilujeng. There followed the panggih, the meeting between the bride and the groom. Tommy and Tata tossed bunches of bethel leaves in an act symbolizing eternal love.
As the music faded, the bride and the groom performed the foot-washing ritual. Tommy gently stepped on an egg, which symbolizes the beginning of a new life together. His wife proceeded to tenderly wash his dirty foot. This ritual evinces unconditional love and the loyalty of a wife to her husband and family.
Other rituals followed. The most moving was the sungkeman, in which the bride and groom pay their respects to their parents.
President Soeharto could hardly contain his emotion when his son knelt before him and bowed his head.
"Tata and Tommy, be grateful for this blessing from God," a proud Soeharto told the couple. "Always be happy together and be useful to our nation and our religion."
After this emotional event, the guests were entertained with a special dance, the Puspito Retno, specially choreographed by Sulistyo Tirtokusumo for Tata. Performed by senior troupe members, the dance was an homage to the beauty of the bride.
Preparations for the wedding took around one month, beginning soon after the wedding date was officially announced in early April.
Mooryati Soedibyo, owner of the Mustika Ratu cosmetics company and a close relative of the Soeharto family, said many people were surprised by the announcement of the engagement.
But Tommy's choice of his bride delighted everybody in the country's first family, their close relatives and friends. "It is a relief that Tommy finally found a bride from his own lineage," said business tycoon Sukamdani Sahid Gitosardjono, who was related to Mrs. Tien Soeharto.
KGPAA Mangkunegoro IX, the head of the Mangkunegaran royal palace, was quoted by a local magazine as saying, "Tommy's marriage to Tata is an effort to reunite the "separated bones" among the Mangkunegaran royalty."
Tommy, head of the widely diversified Humpuss business group, has been in the media spotlight since one of his companies, PT Timor Putra Nasional, was chosen to produce the country's first national car. His public and private activities have always provided delicious fodder to gossip mongers.
Rumors
He reportedly romanced a bevy of beautiful women during his days as Indonesia's most eligible bachelor. These included Maya Rumantir, model Tamara Blezinsky, MTV veejay Nadya Hutagalung and actress Nia Zulkarnaen, all of whom denied the gossip linking them romantically to Tommy.
"Why do people always link me with Tommy?" Tamara once complained. "I have never met him, let alone had any relationship with him."
Singer Maya Rumantir, who has now assumed the role of an educator and goodwill ambassador for a number of charitable causes, said she hoped the couple would enjoy a happy marriage. "I will pray for Tommy's happiness," Maya told a weekly magazine.
Unlike the other high-profile women Tommy had been associated with, virtually nothing was known about Tata when news broke of the engagement.
Press coverage of the demure but talented Tata has been almost universally positive. The 1.7-meter Tata seems to conform to all the desired qualities of an aristocratic Javanese bride, possessing noble blood, flawless public decorum and honorable parents.
People have noted a resemblance between Tata's facial features and Tommy's mother when she was young.
Born in Jakarta 22 years ago, Tata is described as an independent and sociable young woman. She was raised in Singapore, where her father worked in a shipping company. She studied landscape architecture at the University of New South Wales in Sydney and is now involved in the renovation of a hotel here.
The couple reportedly met in Australia last year but managed to keep their whirlwind courtship a secret from the press.
Tommy denied the marriage was arranged and said Tata was the love of his life. "I adore her in many ways. That is why I chose her to be my companion forever," Tommy told reporters after a wedding rehearsal last weekend. Tata was equally enamored of her new husband. "He is the nicest and gentlest man I have ever met."