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.