Kudus Regency Proposes 13 Intangible Cultural Heritages

The Culture and Tourism Office of Kudus Regency, Central Java, is proposing 13 Intangible Cultural Heritages (WBTb) for national designation as an effort to support and protect cultural works and intangible heritage in the local area.

“At present, we are preparing an academic study and complete data to propose these 13 Indonesian intangible cultural heritages,” said Acting Head of the Kudus Culture and Tourism Office (Disbudpar), Teguh Riyanto, in Kudus on Sunday.

Due to budget constraints, he said, the academic study for the proposed WBTb has been submitted to the Regional Development Planning, Research, and Innovation Agency (Bapperida) Kudus, as it has several expert personnel.

“Because there is a verification process, documents including the academic manuscript must be prepared, along with figures from each proposed WBTb who will recount the proposed cultural arts,” he stated.

The names of the cultural works proposed as WBTb for 2026 are: the ampyang maulid tradition, icik embroidery, caping kalo, gusjigang, jenang tebokan, kretek, lentog Kudus, sate kebo, sega jangkrik, sega pindang Kudus, soto kebo Kudus, sedekah sewu sempol tradition, and wayang klithik Wonosoco.

For the stages, data collection and input into the Basic Cultural Data (Dapobud) system are currently underway.

Of the proposals, Wayang Klithik as a performing art and Kretek as a traditional knowledge category WBTb have already had their academic manuscripts prepared, with the next stages being administrative processes and verification.

Kretek holds very strong historical and cultural value for Kudus, especially since this area is widely known as Kudus the Kretek City. Meanwhile, Kudus Kretek City is part of the area’s branding, part of the city branding that needs to be elevated nationally, that kretek originated from Kudus.

The proposal of Indonesian intangible cultural heritages is divided into five categories: traditions and oral expressions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, and festive events; knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe; and traditional craftsmanship skills.

To date, Kudus Regency has seven nationally designated Intangible Cultural Heritages, namely Kudus Traditional House (Joglo Pencu), Dandangan Traditional Ceremony, Jamasan Pusaka Keris Cintaka, Barongan Kudus, Buka Luwur Kanjeng Sunan Kudus, Jenang Kudus, and Guyang Cekathak.

The Kudus Regency Government’s cultural protection efforts, besides through the designation of WBTb, are also carried out through the registration of Communal Intellectual Property (KIK).