The festival presents two distict cultures

The festival presents two distict cultures

Text and photos by Mulkan Salmona

TENGGARONG, East Kalimantan (JP): Saturday, Jan. 21. An unusual air of festivity hangs over Tenggarong, the normally placid capital of the regency of Kutai on the banks of the Mahakam River in East Kalimantan. People mill about in streets and fields surrounding the town's boat landing, their number swells into the thousands as the morning advances.

At about noon, a hush falls over the crowd. Born aloft by dozens of attendants, two dragon effigies, each about six meters long, are carried out of the old Sultan's palace across the street and taken to the landing. Boats are ready to carry them to Kutai Lama (Old Kutai). There, they will be delivered to the river in order that peace and prosperity may be secured in the year that lies ahead.

As the dragons reach the mooring, the excitement reaches its climax. Using tin cans, pails and plastic bags, people begin to toss water at each other. A nearby fire-engine soaks the masses of onlookers. Even boats on the river join in the fun and spray tons of river water on the hordes of people along the bank with their jet pumps.

With this re-enactment of an old purification ritual, the week-long erau feast has reached its culmination. Soon, the little town will fall back into its usual slumber.

A tradition that dates back to the heyday of the sultanate of Kutai Kertanegara, the erau feast is said to have begun as a ritual to accompany various court events such as the bequeathing of honorary titles to members of the nobility and worthy commoners. Dignitaries and leading personalities from the kingdom's provinces and dependencies were required to attend. Arriving from all corners of the kingdom, they brought with them musicians and dancers as well as crops and cattle. In those days it was not unusual for the feast to go on for 40 days or more.

The erau tradition died with the passing of the Kutai sultanate. Established in 1782, the kingdom was abolished in 1960, and so was the erau. It was considered a useless relic of feudalistic days.

In 1971, however, after a new era of pragmatism set in, a new wisdom dawned. The authorities began to realize that, stripped of its obsolete feudalistic trappings, the erau could be a perfect way to preserve the province's rich cultural heritage.

The tradition was reinstated, but its spirit had changed. It moved from being a court ritual to a cultural pageant designed to present the arts and traditions of the entire Kutai regency to the world outside. The tourism potential was not overlooked.

The erau feasts present two widely distinct cultural heritages at the same time: that of the Dayak peoples of the hinterland and the coastal Malay population in the area. Both have coexisted in complete harmony for centuries.