Try opens week-long second 'Kraton' Festival

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.