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)