Rite marks aristocrat girl's first menstruation

By Tarko Sudiarno

YOGYAKARTA (JP): The traditional Javanese community believes that from birth to death a human life is divided into phases, each with its own significance that must be marked with a rite.

One such rite still practiced in the Yogyakarta palace is known as a tarapan, which is performed to mark a girl's first period. This rite is significant because this phase in a young woman's life is believed to be fraught with temptations and threats brought about by evil spirits or magic.

A rite, in which an offering is given to one's creator and ancestors for their blessings, is therefore believed to be necessary to ward off these evil influences. This rite also is intended to mark a girl's entrance into adolescence from childhood.

Within the palace, this rite is important for princesses and is therefore proclaimed to all royal elders, relatives and servants in an official announcement from the sultan.

The announcement is made after the sultan has been informed that one of his daughters has had her first period. After receiving the announcement, the royal elders and servants will immediately prepare for the rite.

The ceremony requires pekobongan (a space with a white mosquito net) for the bathing ceremony, a variety of traditional herbal medicines, cosmetics and cosmetic kits, a piece of cloth to be wrapped around the body of the young woman while bathing and traditional costumes, spices for hair cleansing, a klenting (large earthen pot) containing water over which a magic spell is said, water containing several kinds of flowers and a variety of offerings.

For a week before the rite, the princess for whom the ceremony is performed is kept in seclusion in a special room. During this time, the princess is not allowed to take a bath. Her body will only be wiped with a piece of wet cloth. Her food and drink also will be brought to her in the room. While in seclusion, the princess' hair must be kept in a tight knot, tied with lawe cotton string. During this time she must drink a traditional concoction every day.

"I was also once kept in seclusion for three days but the regulations were not as tight as they were before my time," said the eldest daughter of Sultan Hamengku Buwono X, Gusti Raden Ajeng Nurmalitasari. The tarapan rite was performed for her when she was 12.

According to Gusti Sari, the traditional seclusion of the tarapan rite has been adjusted according to present circumstances. "My siblings and I underwent this seclusion but it was not as strict as it once was. During this time we went to school but after school we were advised to stay home."

The tarapan rite begins in the seclusion room. The secluded princess is taken by her mother and the royal elders to the pekobongan room in the keputren. Before leaving the seclusion room, the lawe string tying her hair in a knot is undone, allowing the hair to flow freely.

Arriving at the pekobongan, the princess enters the room and sits on a chair placed on a mat for the bathing ritual. Her mother will start to bathe her, followed by the female royal elders. On this occasion, various types of traditional concoctions are used to clean the princess' body and hair. Finally, the water from a klenting will be poured over her.

After the bathing ritual, the girl is taken to the keputren where someone will apply her makeup. Before the makeup is applied, she is asked to drink godhokan, a traditional herbal medicine. "This traditional herbal medicine is very bitter. Many kinds of spices are mixed and then boiled .... As this is a requirement, we simply drank the whole thing despite its bad taste," said Gusti Sari.

Then the princess is made up and dons a traditional costume of royal grandeur. Afterward, accompanied by her mother and other relatives, she goes to the sultan's residence for the ngabekten rite.

Arriving at the residence, she squats close to where the sultan is seated to pay her respects to the sultan, known as Sungkem or Ngabekten. The princess kneels, kisses the right knee of the sultan and then retreats, still in the same position.

This ngabekten rite marks the end of the tarapan ceremony. The ritual is closed with a thanksgiving and a prayer for happiness and prosperity by the keparak royal servants. The sultan then dines with his guests.