Tugu community holds ritual

Tugu community holds ritual

JAKARTA (JP): Residents of the historic Tugu area of North
Jakarta will hold a traditional ritual purification ceremony on
Sunday.

Longtime resident Samuel Quiko said on Thursday the mandi-
mandi festival should have been held a week after New Year's but
was postponed because of the Idul Fitri holiday.

He said the ritual, in which revelers smear powder on each
other's faces, would be held in the front yard of SMU 52 senior
high school. It will be preceded by a religious ceremony in the
Tugu Church, which is believed to have been built by Portuguese
settlers several hundred years ago.

"Although we will begin the festival with a Christian ritual,
the celebration is open to all people of Tugu," Samuel said.

A traditional band will entertain the revelers with the famous
Keroncong Tugu music.

The city administration has designated Tugu a protected area
within a radius of 11.3 hectares due to its Portuguese
heritage.(ind)