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.