Push comes to shove at carriage washing ritual

Push comes to shove at carriage washing ritual

By Tarko Sudiarno

YOGYAKARTA (JP): A woman slowly shook her head as she watched
the frenzied crowd before her.

"It's against religion ... Has everybody gone crazy? ... It's
hard to believe that all of them are scrambling to collect dirty
water," she said, her accent revealing she was a visitor from
Jakarta.

She was watching the ritual washing of Yogyakarta Palace's
most famous royal carriage at Ratawijayan Carriage Museum here
last Friday.

For her, the sight of people scrambling over each other to
drink the dirty water or wash their face with it was hard to
stomach. There were no concerns about hygiene, for the people
believe the water brings luck because of its magical qualities.

This annual rite takes place in the month of Sura on the
Javanese calendar. Locals say the water, known as lorodan, is
invested with magical powers because it was used to wash one of
the palace's heirlooms, the carriage called Kanjeng Nyai Jimat
which is believed to be blessed.

Hundreds of people from Magelang, Temanggung, Wonosobo and
Banyumas came to receive blessings in an act known as Ngalap
Berkah.

Dozens of them had been waiting and praying near the carriage
since Thursday night.

At precisely 10 a.m., an offering of burning incense was
placed before the carriage, which had been readied in the central
chamber of the museum. Then the head coachman of the palace, KRT
Kudowijoyo, symbolically cleaned the carriage with a white
handkerchief.

The carriage, still grand but whose paint has faded over the
years, was slowly taken out of the room and into the courtyard.
The royal vehicle had barely come to stop before visitors began
vying with each other to touch its body.

High ranking court servants began to clean the carriage, first
with dry white handkerchiefs and then with wet cloth.

And then the scramble began as visitors tried to get the
water. Every time the court servants wrung the wet cloth, the
visitors rushed to the vat where the water collected, frequently
causing the water to spill.

Visitors who were not robust enough to jostle with the others
were content to collect the water that flowed into nearby
gutters. "This water can rejuvenate you," said Mrs. Kromo of
Bantul, Yogyakarta, who washed her face as soon as she collected
the water.

Tukino of Temanggung, Central Java, came with five of his
friends. They grow tobacco on the slopes of Mt. Sumbing.

"I believe the water has the power to make our tobacco plants
grow well. Every year my friends and I come here to witness this
rite," he said.

Tukino and his friends had a strategy for collecting the
water. Well-built, Tukino went ahead of his friends, taking along
a plastic bag. After filling the bag with the water, he passed it
to his friends, who poured the water into a five-liter plastic
jerrycan that each of them had brought. This went on until all
their six jerrycans were filled.

Suwarto from Secang, Magelang also believes the water has
magical properties. "I will keep it to make my goods sell well,"
said the batik trader.

There are at least two versions of when the carriage was made.
The first version says it was made between 1750 and 1760 in the
Netherlands and was later presented to Sultan Hamengkubuwono I as
a gift by Jacob Mossel, the then Dutch governor general.

The second version says it was made between 1811 and 1816 in
England and was presented to Sultan Hamengkubuwono III.

The carriage was used until the reign of Sultan Hamengkubuwono
V and has since been kept in the palace as one of the royal
heirlooms. Many people still revere the carriage and on certain
days, offerings such as pisang raja (large sweet bananas) are
laid before the carriage.

The museum also holds other ancient carriages which are kept
to the west of Sitihinggil Hall at the palace. One of them is
Kyai Garudayekso. It was made in the Netherlands in 1861 during
the reign of Sultan Hamengkubuwono VI. This carriage is used for
processions during coronations.