Tradition stays in step in Ponorogo

Kartika Bagus C., Contributor, Ponorogo, East Java

Ponorogo's name is inevitably associated with reog, the ancient tradition of folk dance troupes led by a warok, a man believed to possess supernatural powers.

The cool town offers a host of cultural attractions that are as interesting and exciting as others found in the country.

About 200 kilometers to the northeast of the capital of East Java, Surabaya, or roughly four hours by car, Ponorogo is a strategic city, located as it is on the border of Madiun regency and Pacitan city, both of which are industrial centers.

It is also accessible from Surakarta, Central Java, using the route along Tawangmangu resort and driving eastward.

This is recommended, as it offers the traveler scenic mountain views. (Located next to Tawangmangu resort, Sarangan Lake in Magetan is another beautiful place worth visiting.)

When you arrive in Ponorogo, you can take your pick of numerous affordable and comfortable non-star rated hotels in the center of the city.

Once a territory of the Mataram and Kediri kingdoms, Ponorogo's historic legacy is seen in the variety of arts and culture that have been well preserved until the present day.

Of course, it is reog that put the area on the cultural and tourist map.

The traditional reog, where the dancers fall into a trance while adorned in elaborate tiger costumes, has been kept alive and further developed for modern tastes, becoming a mainstay of cultural celebrations around the country.

The dance is said to date back to ancient times during the reign of Prabu Kelono Sewandono, a Javanese king, when he proposed to the daughter of Kediri's king, Dewi Songgo Langit. Reog basically consists of traditional Javanese gamelan music and 144 ornamental twin horses led by a two-headed animal, which is the incarnation of King Prabu Singo Barong, who was defeated by Kelono Sewandono in the battle to win the Kediri king's daughter.

Every month, on the night of the full moon in the Javanese calendar, the regency tourism office schedules its Full Moon Reog Festival.

Head of the local tourism office, Sartono, said that the festival was intended to inform the public that the night of the full moon was an auspicious moment for celebration, as the residents of Ponorogo gathered and enjoyed a culturally rich evening of entertainment.

"The festival has been held since 1990 with every subdistrict participating in turn. My current data indicates that we currently have 231 groups from the entire 20 subdistricts in the Ponorogo area. The event is a magnet that draws a huge crowd in the city square every month," he said.

Included in the festival is a night-long performance of wayang kulit (Javanese leather puppets) staged to coincide with certain Fridays on the Javanese calendar (Pon Friday every five weeks), which takes place at the auditorium in Ponorogo city square.

During nights of a full moon, the residents of Slahung, Ponorogo's areas bordering the Pacitan regency, spend the night on the top of a nearby mountain, where a local myth has it that one can touch the moon from the peak.

The most eagerly awaited tourism event in Ponorogo is Grebeg Suro, the new year according to the Javanese calendar, which will be celebrated with the Eighth National Reog Festival on March 10 this year.

It is a day when reog lovers can get their fill. Local troupes and ones from other cities, such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Surakarta and Semarang in Java, and other places as far afield as Kalimantan, participate in the festival.

There are even foreign countries with reog groups, such as Suriname, Malaysia and several others in the region, that are expected to send entrants. For the upcoming Grebeg Suro, Sartono said his office had sent invitations to every group in Indonesia's major cities so that they could prepare well in advance for the performance.

Despite the undeniable appeal of the reog, which attracts curious onlookers from all over the world, Ponorogo has neglected some of its other potential tourist draws. These include the natural spring at Ngembag, although the local authorities do plan to renovate the site in the near future.

To make Ponorogo a modern tourist city by the year 2007, as targeted by the local administration, it is only appropriate that the city's authorities should soon develop what is deemed an absolute requirement by the people of Ponorogo: a proper public space.