Nusantara Kraton Festival begins today

Nusantara Kraton Festival begins today

SURAKARTA, Central Java (JP): A great procession of men
dressed as traditional soldiers from ancient palaces across the
country will kick off the week-long Nusantara Kraton Festival
today.

Coordinating Minister for Industry and Trade Hartarto will
open the event at the Kasunanan (Royal Palace) of Surakarta this
afternoon. Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunication Joop
Ave and Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro
are expected to attend.

A total of 20 ancient palaces are taking part in the festival
to be marked by a vast array of cultural programs.

Among the participants are the Kraton of Yogyakarta; Puro
Pakualaman, Kraton Kanoman, Kraton Kasepuhan, Kraton Kacirebonan,
all in Central Java; and Kraton Sumenep in East Java.

From outside of Java, the participants are the Istana Sultan
Siak Palace in Riau, Istana Sriwijaya in South Sumatra. Istana
Kadriak and Istana Amantubillah in Pontianak, West Kalimantan;
and Istana Alwatzhubillah in Sambas.

Also participating are the Istana Balla Lompoa in Gowa, South
Sulawesi; Kerajaan Buton in Buton, Southeast Sulawesi; Kesultanan
Ternate in Maluku; and Istana Bima in East Nusa Tenggara.

Visitors to the festival will be treated with an extravaganza
of traditional royal dances, ceremonies, royal fashion shows, as
well as a large scale exhibition of palace artifacts.

Among the artifacts on display are an ancient box from Egypt,
and collections of armor suits from Kraton Kanoman and Kesultanan
Ternate.

The kraton artifacts are usually considered sacred because
they are closely linked in spirit to their original owners, who
lived centuries ago. Heirlooms of the mighty kings, either here
in Java or outside of the island, are usually believed to possess
supernatural powers and thus treated reverently.

The festival will also feature a special exhibition of Central
Javanese folk culture, including the mass ruwatan. The ruwatan, a
ceremony to "purify" and protect children from "evil spirits",
usually involves bathing children in sacred water and saying
prayers over them.

As part of the ruwatan ceremony, in the Pendapa (Court)
Sasonomulyo of the Kraton Surakarta, a wayang kulit, or shadow
puppet performance, will be held for 70 selected visitors.

The festival itself is the largest ever. The previous
festivals were joined by the ancient palaces from Yogyakarta,
Surakarta and Cirebon only.

Kratons today represent centers of culture and a heritage that
needs to be preserved. Financial constraints are usually the main
stumbling blocks for local administration trying to maintain this
wealth of Indonesian culture.

Despite the promise of the royal grandeur of the festival,
Surakarta, a city of 527,000, looked relatively unperturbed. The
Kompas daily reported that residents did not appear to be busier
than usual, and there were only a few banners advertising the
event on the streets.

An unidentified organizing committee source acknowledged that
promotional efforts have been lackluster because the event was
planned "only five months ago".

The daily reported that an advertising company in Jakarta had
been assigned to handle all promotions, but had failed to carry
out its duties.

"They were trusted to raise funds, as well as advertise the
festival, but until two weeks ago they hadn't done anything," the
source said.

Chairman Sri Subagyo said the committee finally had to rely
only on the funds provided by the local administration which
amounted only to Rp 350 million. (02/swe)