Tradition stays in step in Ponorogo

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.