JP/17/SEKATE

JP/17/SEKATE

'Sekaten' through times

Sri Wahyuni
The Jakarta Post
Yogyakarta

The Sekaten festival dates back to the year 1939 Saka on the
Javanese calendar, or 1477, when Raden Patah of Demak Bintoro
founded the Grand Mosque of Demak, with the support of the wali
(propagators of Islam on Java island).

The festival was also the result of discussions with the wali,
who said a special event should be held for seven consecutive
days ahead of the anniversary of the Prophet Muhammad's birth,
with the main purpose of the even to be the spread of Islam.

Sekaten was first held at a field near the mosque. In order to
draw people to the event, one of the wali, Sunan Giri, created
the traditional gamelan musical instruments to be played near the
mosque compound.

With the instruments, traditional Javanese music compositions,
known as gending, composed by Sunan Kalijaga were sung and
played. By the end of the event, people who had expressed a
desire to convert to Islam were assisted by the wali in saying
the syahadatain, which is a profession of faith saying that there
is no God other than Allah and that Muhammad is His Last
Messenger.

It was in fact from the word "syahadatain" that the name
"sekaten" was taken.

As the event developed, sekaten turned into a traditional folk
celebration that was held annually, later becoming an official
tradition of Demak, especially after it became an Islamic
kingdom.

The tradition continued even after the kingdom developed into
the powerful Mataram kingdom and was split into the separate
kingdoms of Surakarta and Yogyakarta. Both the Surakarta and
Yogyakarta palaces preserved the sekaten celebration as a part of
their cultural and religious heritage, explaining why the sekaten
is to this day held each year in the two cities.

In the Yogyakarta palace, the celebration has been developed
over the years to its present form. The latest changes occurred
this year when the previously month-long Sekaten Night Market
held ahead of the main event was changed into the 38-day Jogja
Expo Sekaten '04.

A private event organizer also was hired to professionally
manage the event to make it a nationally recognized business
exhibition.

Yet, the main sekaten ritual is still held for seven
consecutive days ahead of Prophet Muhammad's birthday, which is
on May 2.

The main ritual basically consists of three main processions.
First is the playing of the palace's sacred gamelan musical
instruments, called Kanjeng Kyai Nogowilogo and Kangjeng Kyai
Guntur Madu.

Second is the celebration of the Prophet Muhammad's birthday
at the palace's Masjid Agung Grand Mosque. And third is the
garebeg ritual in which the palace distributes rice offerings to
the people. Many people believe that eating of these offerings
will bring them good luck.