Sultan Orders Simplified Garebeg Besar Ceremony, Pareden Distributed Only to Palace Attendants

The Keraton Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat will simplify the Garebeg Besar ceremony in 2026. This year’s event will feature no gunungan (mountain-shaped offerings) exiting the palace or military processions as in previous traditions.

Hajad Dalem Garebeg is a traditional ceremony held three times annually by the Yogyakarta Palace: Garebeg Syawal for Eid al-Fitr, Garebeg Besar for Eid al-Adha, and Garebeg Mulud commemorating the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday.

One of the Keraton Yogyakarta’s palace attendants, KRT Kusumanegara, stated they received a royal directive from Sultan Hamengku Buwono X to simplify the Garebeg ceremony starting this year. “We recently received the Sultan’s directive to simplify the Garebeg processions beginning with tomorrow’s Garebeg Besar,” he said.

The palace attendants will carry out the directive diligently. He added that this year’s Garebeg Besar will resemble pandemic-era restrictions. “There will be no gunungan exiting the palace and no military processions,” he said. “All pareden offerings will be distributed solely to the Keraton Yogyakarta palace attendants,” he added.