'Ruwatan', seen as anachronistic, is threatened with oblivion

'Ruwatan', seen as anachronistic, is threatened with oblivion

Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya

Sedekah bumi, an annual ritual to expel evil spirits from a
village and bestow on it blessings through prayer, is gradually
being abandoned by rural communities as it is regarded as an
animistic practice.

The rich smell of incense burned by the elders of Sepat Lidah
Kulon village, Surabaya, East Java, was evident as traditional
music started up to accompany two dancers.

Moments later, fruit and food as offerings were dropped into
an old pool in Sepat Lidah Kulon, marking the start of the
ceremony on Monday, Sept. 12.

After reading mantras while dancing, the two sinden (female
singers and dancers) chanted several verses in the Central Java
dialect near the pool, long believed to be a water spring. But
the three-hectare pool is now shrinking with the spread of
settlements there.

The song and dance performed by the pair, as local villagers
assume, were the favorites of their ancestors. In order to show
their reverence for the spirits of their forefathers, the
performance has become a ritual to ask for ancestral blessing and
preserve local arts now being eroded by globalization.

Following the ritual, young artists and local villagers
mingled in a dusk-to-dawn feast, where they also discussed the
waning popularity of traditional arts in the village and planned
their promotion, notably through the ruwatan (exorcism) ritual.

"This is a form of community wisdom in conserving the
environment through local arts," said Heri Lento, an artist from
Surabaya and member of the ruwatan organizing committee of Sepat
Lidah Kulon, that evening.

Sepat Lidah Kulon people are aware of the importance of
harmony with their environment, which is under pressure from the
urban expansion of Surabaya. Housing and road construction
encroaches on their communal land, where the old pool and wells
left behind by their ancestors have become their only source of
clean water.

The ritual serves to remind them of the critical state of the
pool's water reserve, which forces them to buy drinking water for
their daily needs as the natural spring is being eaten away by
urban expansion.

Likewise, Lidah Kulon villagers realize the need to preserve
traditional arts as part of their identity in the face of
advancing globalization. "Some people have abandoned traditions.
Urban citizens are becoming too worldly, dismissing rituals that
involve mystical forces," Heri indicated.

This, according to Heri, has caused the decline and even
demise of East Java's traditional arts like the mask dance in
Malang, wayang orang (stage shows based on the Mahabharata and
Ramayana epics), as well as ludruk and ketoprak (folk theater).

Some of these are utilized in ruwatan ceremonies.

His view was shared by Kadaruslan, a Surabaya community elder
and chairman of Putra Surabaya (Pusura), a social organization in
the city founded by national hero Dr. Soetomo.

"The Surabaya community is losing its identity, local spirit
and culture," he said.

Affectionately called Cak (brother) Kandar, he explained the
loss of Surabaya's identity by quoting a verse from the national
anthem Indonesia Raya: "It should be Bangunlah jiwanya,
bangunlah badannya (kindle your spirit, waken your body), but
instead our body has arisen before our soul is awake. This
drowsing spirit refers to our waning culture, including ruwatan."

"Surabaya is preoccupied with development but it concerns the
physical rather than spiritual dimension, such as high-rise
buildings and public facilities," added the senior city figure.

Mystical rituals of the kind are also known as selamatan desa
and bersih desa (thanksgiving rites) in various parts of East
Java like Malang, Sidoarjo, Madiun and Gresik.

"The various terms essentially mean ruwatan -- begging for
divine blessing and protection as well as deliverance from
misfortunes," said Ki Soleh Adi Pramono, an organizer of Malang
mask dances and leader of the Mangun Dharma art camp, told The
Jakarta Post recently.

Ki Soleh and his wife Karen Elizabeth, born in Wisconsin,
Chicago, U.S., have frequently been invited to perform mask
dances at ruwatan rituals. Such ceremonies are not only held by
villages but also individuals, who wish to obtain a blessing for
an event such as a circumcision.

He said that, like the other rites, sedekah bumi had become an
inseparable part of Javanese religious activities. In the early
history of Java, ancestors also made offerings known as sesaji
ageng bedhah bumi before starting to reclaim forested land.

Undeniably, rituals always have something to do with mystical
practices. According to Ki Soleh, before such ceremonies begin,
some requirements have to be met by community figures, like
fasting or praying for spiritual guidance from their forefathers.

Similarly, art performers like sinden and troupe members have
to fast for 40 days in order to ensure truly rewarding rituals
with abundant blessing, as desired by all those concerned with
the spiritual enterprise.