Rural elderly Javanese women work to their own beat

Rural elderly Javanese women work to their own beat

By Agus Maryono and Ngudi Utomo

BANYUMAS, Central Java (JP): The bodies of 65-year-old Arsadi
and four other elderly women were wet with sweat as they gyrated
their hips to the rhythm of the music they were playing.

But the instruments were not ones found in any traditional
orchestra. For the music they were playing was kothekan, produced
by striking pestles against mortars.

Three of Arsadi's grandchildren were squatting in front her,
closely watching their grandmother playing kothekan music. At
times they laughed at the elderly woman, who did not mind in the
least.

Arsadi, who has 12 grandchildren, was that afternoon very much
absorbed in her kothekan music. Gone from her simple mind were
all the troubles of her hard life; food scarcity, harvest failure
and a host of other household problems brought on by the ongoing
economic crisis.

She really was having a good time that afternoon, playing
kothekan music with four elderly neighbors of hers, Rasmaji, 50,
Muniarjo, 52, Gundri, 55 and Ahmadi, 50. They all live in
Karangbanjar, Bojongsari subdistrict, Purbalingga district,
Central Java.

"When we play kothekan music we really feel happy and
entertained. Gone are all the problems in our life," Arsadi said
to the accompaniment of "thek... thek... thung... thek...
thek... thung".

The dominant sound of "thek... thek" has led to this kind of
music being called kothekan.

"We call this music kothekan because of the dominant sound of
thek... thek," Arsadi said.

"If we strike our rice pestles against the mortars, we feel
very happy. All our problems go away," Muniarjo chimed in. To
her, playing kothekan is an effective way to get over her
fatigue.

"Right after finishing rice pounding, we play kothekan. Then
we feel very happy and light-hearted and don't feel tired any
more," she added.

Kothekan can make people happy and also dispel their fatigue
because it has a number of different rhythms. According to
Arsadi, while kothekan players simply strike the mortars with
their rice pestles each will be assigned a different task.

Arsadi said there are five types of kothekan, thek ewek,
Bajuri, Gejagan, Bajoan and Titiran.

"The first four are usually played by two people and the last
by five people. Titiran has a lot of rhythms and each player has
their own task when hitting the mortar with their rice pestles."

She said the five Titiran players are divided into four
groups: one Bawah player, assigned to hit the head of the mortar,
two Ngotheki players, who hit their rice pestles into the insides
of their mortars, one person who strikes her lenjing (a small
rice pestle) on the outside of the mortar, known as Titir and the
one Nerusi or Nggejogi. She strikes her large rice pestle against
the edge of her mortar.

The different rhythms and tunes ofKothekan Titiran are all
named, such as Nini Bonem tiba kedhung, Beluluk tiba, Gunung
Sari, Terbangan, Kodok Ngorek and Ngiring-iring.

"Each tune has its own specific function. Ngiring-iring, for
example is usually used in a circumcision rite," Arsadi said.

Before rice threshers became popular, rural women pounded rice
with their pestles and mortars almost once a week.

"After completing our harvest, we did not pound all our rice.
We pounded only enough to meet our weekly needs. When we ran out
of rice, we would pound some more," Muniarjo said. She added that
they played kothekan between the rice pounding.

In the beginning, kothekan was played by rural women to kill
time after pounding rice. But, over time, as the great variety of
rhythms and tunes were developed it was increasingly used in
local ceremonies.

The cultural inspector at the Ministry of Education and
Culture's office in Wanadadi subdistrict, Banjarnegara district,
Riyanto, said that it is now often used for events such as the
rite to welcome the Prophet's Maulud or prior to Idul Fitri,
weddings and circumcisions.

So kothekan is no longer an activity to kill time after rice
pounding.

"Although rice pestles and mortars are no longer used to pound
rice, these two implements are still common in rural areas as
they are used to play kothekan," Riyanto told the Jakarta Post.

To perpetuate kothekan playing, he said, his office often
cooperates with the cultural section of the district-level office
in Banjarnegara district to ensure kothekan is performed at
important events.

"Unfortunately only elderly women usually take part in such
performances," he said. "I fear that some day nobody will be able
to play kothekan any more because there don't seem to be any
younger women ready to preserve this art form," he added.

Stopping eclipses

As a traditional art form, kothekan is also believed to have
the capacity to ward off disasters.

"Nobody knows for how long kothekan has been used as a means
to prevent disasters," said Riyanto. "There is a strong belief
among local community members that rice pestles must be struck
against mortars every time there is a solar or lunar eclipse.

Locals believe that the eclipse takes place because the moon
or the sun is being swallowed by a giant. So if sound is produced
by striking rice pestles against mortars, the giant will forego
the moon or the sun," he said, adding the practice is still found
today.

Thus technological progress does not necessarily always have a
beneficial impact. In many cases, progress puts an end to a long-
established traditions.

As rice threshers are available throughout Banyumas regency
(which covers Purbalingga, Banjarnegara, Cilacap and Banyumas
districts), local people take advantage of the more practical and
more efficient way to mill rice.

"It is easy now. You simply take the unhusked rice to a rice
threshing plant and several minutes later you have your rice,"
said Basori, 51, from Bancarkembar village, Banyumas.

He said that prior to the advent of rice threshers in his area
kothekan was still easy to find. "Now even rice pestles and
mortars are very seldom seen, let alone a kothekan performance,"
he added.

Nevertheless, in Karangbanjar, Purbalingga, and in other rural
areas where rice threshers are not available, kothekan still
lives on.

"Kothekan is still performed in my village. We prefer to pound
our rice with rice pestles and mortars. It saves money. If we
have to take it to a rice milling plant, we have to spend a lot
of money on transportation," said Kartini, 53, a resident of
Lebakwangi village, Bawang subdistrict, Banjarnegara.

"I still play kothekan once a week after pounding rice," she
said.