Pomp reigns at Kutai festival opening

The Jakarta Post, Tenggarong, East Kalimantan

Tenggarong returned to festive mood on Saturday. The revelry that will last until Sept. 28 started with an intricate court ritual led by Kutai Sultan Haji Adji Mohamad Solehoeddin II at his palace.

Conducted in silence, the ceremony consisted of erecting the "Tiang Ayu", a decorated ancient wooden pole, in the palace grounds.

Residents gathered in the palace, exhibition buildings and recreation centers throughout the day to see the start of Erau, the annual local cultural festival which is being held along with the Jepen/Zapin International Festival.

Erau is the traditional ceremony for Kutai kings and is believed to date back to the coronation of Kutai's first king, Aji Batara Agung Dewa Sakti (1300-1325). In the course of time, it has become a yearly folk festival as part of celebration of Kutai's founding anniversary that falls on Sept. 28.

Jepen or Zapin is a typical Malay dance with Arab influences, and is also found in neighboring countries with Malay populations, such as Singapore, Brunei Darussalam and Malaysia. The Jepen festival brings together artists from China, Japan and South Korea, which will present their own folk arts.

Strategic areas of the town are decked out in large promotional posters and colorful lights bathe the streets. Fireworks lit up the sky near the new modern suspension bridge over River Mahakam.

Kumala Island, which is a 76-hectare delta on the Mahakam River across from the Kutai regent's office, sparkled with Chinese lanterns. The art is the contribution of the Chinese delegates, who have turned the area into a mini Suzhou, the Chinese mainland town famous for its lantern festival.

The festival was officially opened by Minister of Culture and Tourism I Gde Ardika at Rondong Demang stadium, where a colossal dance, Gilang Gemilang Kutai Kartanegara (Glorious Kutai Kartanegara), involving 1,200 dancers, was performed.

"The festival aims at preserving Kutai Kartanegara's precious cultural heritage and introducing it to the outside world," said Regent Syaukani. "And that's why we also have representatives from other provinces and foreign countries."

The Erau festival showcases the cultural wealth of the ancient "land of the kings", as locals proudly call Kutai Kartanegara. Over the past few years, it has invited other provinces, and this year foreign countries, to win wider recognition for Kutai as one of Indonesia's most important cultural centers.

The festival will mainly present local traditional folk arts, including some which are rarely performed in public, such as the Dayak Hudoq dance and court mask dance.

Delegates from South Korea, Japan and China have arrived and those from Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand are expected next week. But neighboring Brunei is notably absent.

"The time we gave them is probably too short, less than a year (for the foreign countries) to prepare themselves," acknowledged Judith J. Navarro Dipodiputro, the Kutai regent's adviser on foreign relations.