Try opens week-long second 'Kraton' Festival
By K. Basrie
CIREBON, West Java (JP): Vice President Try Sutrisno opened the second Kraton (royal court) Festival in a colorful regal ceremony that drew thousands of spectators yesterday.
Tourists, locals and festival participants thronged the football field-size Sangkakala Square, opposite the 468-year-old Kasepuhan Palace, and adjacent streets for a glimpse of princes, princesses and the traditions of Indonesia's few surviving royal courts.
West Java Governor R. Nuriana, who is hosting the week-long festival, said that about 3,000 people from 23 royal courts in 13 provinces were taking part.
In his speech, Try thanked organizers for holding the festival which aimed to preserve the country's wide array of traditions and ethnic culture.
"We are grateful that the royal courts, which are scattered across our beloved archipelago, still command the people's respect, particularly in their role as centers for preserving and developing our culture," he said.
Besides boosting the nation's tourist industry, the festival presented an opportunity to discuss royal court traditions and values and promote their role as cultural centers, he said.
The guests at the opening ceremony included Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Azwar Anas, Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications Joop Ave, Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro and Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M.
After opening the festival, Try and Joop Ave signed first-day commemorative stamps to mark the event.
The guests and spectators were then entertained by a 15-minute performance by a 200-strong dance troupe. The number, Abyoring Dwaja Salaksa, depicted the role of royal courts before and after Indonesia's independence in 1945.
After the performance, soldiers paraded in the colorful garb of the participating royal courts. The procession was about three kilometers long.
The spectators lined the streets and greeted them enthusiastically.
But chaos reigned after the ceremony as people headed home. Cars, many bearing Jakarta license plates, were bumper-to-bumper as they headed out of Cirebon.
Designed to help preserve the royal courts, including their attributes and traditions, the festival was estimated to cost Rp 2.7 billion (US$1.1 million), said Sri Kuncoro, the head of Cirebon's tourist office and the organizing committee secretary.
The first Kraton Festival was held in 1995 in Surakarta, also known as Solo, in Central Java.
Scores of kraton rulers, princes, princesses and their courtiers are here for the week-long festival to participate in heirloom displays, ritual dances and other regal ceremonies.
The events, which are open to the public, are being held at Cirebon's three palaces -- Kasepuhan, Kacirebonan and Kanoman -- and three public squares.
All but one of Indonesia's sultanates have been stripped of their remaining power and privileges since independence in 1945.
The Yogyakarta sultanate has special status in recognition of its contribution to the nation's independence struggle. Yogyakarta was once the administrative center of the young republic at the height of its conflict with the returning Dutch colonial forces after World War II.