Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.
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Noken is a knotted net or woven bag handmade from wood fibre or leaves by communities in Papua and West Papua Provinces of Indonesia. Men and women use it for carrying plantation produce, catch from the sea or lake, firewood, babies or small animals as well as for shopping and for storing things in the home. Noken may also be worn, often for traditional festivities, or given as peace offerings. The method of making Noken varies between communities, but in general, branches, stems or bark of certain small trees or shrubs are cut, heated over a fire and soaked in water. The remaining wood fibre is dried then spun to make a strong thread or string, which is sometimes coloured using natural dyes. This string is knotted by hand to make net bags of various patterns and sizes. The process requires great manual skill, care and artistic sense, and takes several months to master. The number of people making and using Noken is diminishing, however. Factors threatening its survival include lack of awareness, weakening of traditional transmission, decreasing numbers of craftspeople, competition from factory-made bags, problems in easily and quickly obtaining traditional raw materials, and shifts in the cultural values of Noken.
The Kris is an asymmetrical dagger with distinctive blade-patterning achieved through alternating laminations of iron and nickelous iron (pamor).[4] Krises are most strongly associated with the culture of Indonesia. The kris is famous for its distinctive wavy blade, although many have straight blades as well. Keris is also a symbol of power and of ethnic pride and in most communities making up the Malay Archipelago (currently southern Thailand, southern Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.) – home of Pencak Silat martial arts.
Kris have been produced in many regions of Indonesia for centuries, but nowhere—although the island of Bali comes close—is the kris so embedded in a mutually-connected whole of ritual prescriptions and acts, ceremonies, mythical backgrounds and epic poetry as in Central Java.[5] As a result, in Indonesia the kris is commonly associated with Javanese culture, although other ethnicities are familiar with the weapon as part of their culture, such as the Balinese, Malays, Sundanese, Madurese, Banjar, Bugis, and Makassar.
A kris can be divided into three parts: blade (bilah or wilah), hilt (hulu), and sheath (warangka). These parts of the kris are objects of art, often carved in meticulous detail and made from various materials: metal, precious or rare types of wood, or gold or ivory. A kris’s aesthetic value covers the dhapur (the form and design of the blade, with around 60 variants), the pamor (the pattern of metal alloy decoration on the blade, with around 250 variants), and tangguh referring to the age and origin of a kris.[6] Depending on the quality and historical value of the kris, it can fetch thousands of dollars or more.
Both a weapon and spiritual object, kris are often considered to have an essence or presence, considered to possess magical powers, with some blades possessing good luck and others possessing bad.[6] Kris are used for display, as talismans with magical powers, weapons, a sanctified heirloom (pusaka), auxiliary equipment for court soldiers, an accessory for ceremonial dress, an indicator of social status, a symbol of heroism, etc.[6] Legendary kris that possess supernatural power and extraordinary ability were mentioned in traditional folktales, such as those of Empu Gandring, Taming Sari, and Setan Kober.
In 2005, UNESCO gave the title Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity to the kris of Indonesia. This weapon was also featured in the American bladesmthing competition, Forged in Fire (TV series)‘s season 6 episode 7.
source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kris
Although experts disagree as to the precise origins of batik, samples of dye resistance patterns on cloth can be traced back 1,500 years ago to Egypt and the Middle East. Samples have also been found in Turkey, India, China, Japan and West Africa from past centuries. Although in these countries people were using the technique of dye resisting decoration, within the textile realm, none have developed batik to its present day art form as the highly developed intricate batik found on the island of Java in Indonesia.
Although there is mention of ‘fabrics highly decorated’ in Dutch transcripts from the 17th century, most scholars believe that the intricate Javanese batik designs would only have been possible after the importation of finely woven imported cloth, which was first imported to Indonesia from India around the 1800s and afterwards from Europe beginning in 1815. Textile patterns can be seen on stone statues that are carved on the walls of ancient Javanese temples such as Prambanan (AD 800), however there is no conclusive evidence that the cloth is batik. It could possibly be a pattern that was produced with weaving techniques and not dying. What is clear is that in the 19th century batik became highly developed and was well ingrained in Javanese cultural life.
Some experts feel that batik was originally reserved as an art form for Javanese royalty. Certainly it’s royal nature was clear as certain patterns were reserved to be worn only by royalty from the Sultan’s palace. Princesses and noble women may have provided the inspiration for the highly refined design sense evident in traditional patterns. It is highly unlikely though that they would be involved in any more than the first wax application. Most likely, the messy work of dyeing and subsequent waxings was left to court artisans who would work under their supervision.
Javanese royalty were known to be great patrons of the arts and provided the support necessary to develop many art forms, such as silver ornamentation, wayang kulit (leather puppets) and gamelan orchestras. In some cases the art forms overlap. The Javanese dalang (puppeteer) not only was responsible for the wayang puppets but was also an important source of batik patterns. Wayang puppets are usually made of goat skin, which is then perforated and painted to create the illusion of clothing on the puppet. Used puppets were often sold to eager ladies who used the puppets as guides for their batik patterns. They would blow charcoal through the holes that define the patterns of clothing on the puppets, in order to copy the intricate designs onto the cloth.
Other scholars disagree that batik was only reserved as an art form for royalty, as they also feel its use was prevalent with the rakyat, the people. It was regarded an important part of a young ladies accomplishment that she be capable of handling a canting (the pen-like instrument used to apply wax to the cloth) with a reasonable amount of skill, certainly as important as cookery and other housewifery arts to Central Javanese women.
Natural materials such as cotton or silk are used for the cloth, so that it can absorb the wax that is applied in the dye resisting process. The fabrics must be of a high thread count (densely woven). It is important that cloth of high quality have this high thread count so that the intricate design qualities of batik can be maintained.
The cloth that is used for batik is washed and boiled in water many times prior to the application of wax so that all traces of starches, lime, chalk and other sizing materials are removed. Prior to the implementation of modern day techniques, the cloth would have been pounded with a wooden mallet or ironed to make it smooth and supple so it could best receive the wax design. With the finer machine-made cotton available today, the pounding or ironing processes can be omitted. Normally men did this step in the batik process.
Strict industry standards differentiate the different qualities of the cloth used today, which include Primissima (the best) and Prima. The cloth quality is often written on the edge of the design. A lesser quality cloth which is often used in Blaco.
Although the art form of batik is very intricate, the tools that are used are still very simple. The canting, believed to be a purely Javanese invention, is a small thin wall spouted copper container (sometimes called a wax pen) that is connected to a short bamboo handle. Normally it is approximately 11 cm. in length. The copper container is filled with melted wax and the artisan then uses the canting to draw the design on the cloth.
Canting have different sizes of spouts (numbered to correspond to the size) to achieve varied design effects. The spout can vary from 1 mm in diameter for very fine detailed work to wider spouts used to fill in large design areas. Dots and parallel lines may be drawn with canting that have up to 9 spouts. Sometimes a wad of cotton is fastened over the mouth of the canting or attached to a stick that acts as a brush to fill in very large areas.
For close-up pictures of canting.
The wajan is the container that holds the melted wax. It looks like a small wok. Normally it is made of iron or earthenware. The wajan is placed on a small brick charcoal stove or a spirit burner called an ‘anglo’. The wax is kept in a melted state while the artisan is applying the wax to the cloth.
Different kinds and qualities of wax are used in batik. Common waxes used for batik consist of a mixture of beeswax, used for its malleability, and paraffin, used for its friability. Resins can be added to increase adhesiveness and animal fats create greater liquidity.
The best waxes are from the Indonesian islands of Timor, Sumbawa and Sumatra; three types of petroleum-based paraffin (white, yellow and black) are used. The amounts mixed are measured in grams and vary according to the design. Wax recipes can be very closely guarded secrets. Varying colors of wax make it possible to disguise different parts of the pattern through the various dying stages. Larger areas of the pattern are filled in with wax that is cheaper quality and the higher quality wax is used on the more intricately detailed sections of the design.
The wax must be kept at the proper temperature. A wax that is too cool will clog the spout of the canting. A wax that is too hot will flow too quickly and be uncontrollable. The artisan will often blow into the spout of the canting before applying wax to the cloth in order to clear the canting of any obstructions.
Creating batik is a very time consuming craft. To meet growing demands and make the fabric more affordable to the masses, in the mid-19th century the . cap. (copper stamp – pronounced chop) was developed. This invention enabled a higher volume of batik production compared to the traditional method which entailed the tedious application of wax by hand with a canting.
Each cap is a copper block that makes up a design unit. Cap are made of 1.5 cm wide copper stripes that are bent into the shape of the design. Smaller pieces of wire are used for the dots. When complete, the pattern of copper strips is attached to the handle.
The cap must be precisely made. This is especially true if the pattern is to be stamped on both sides of the fabric. It is imperative that both sides of the cap are identical so that pattern will be consistent.
Sometimes cap are welded between two grids like pieces of copper that will make a base for the top and the bottom. The block is cut in half at the center so the pattern on each half is identical. Cap vary in size and shape depending on the pattern they are needed for. It is seldom that a cap will exceed 24 cm in diameter, as this would make the handling too difficult.
Men usually handle the application of wax using cap. A piece of cloth that involves a complicated design could require as many as ten sets of cap. The usage of cap, as opposed to canting, to apply the wax has reduced the amount of time to make a cloth.
Today, batik quality is defined by cap or tulis, the second meaning hand-drawn designs which use a canting, or kombinasi, a combination of the two techniques.
Traditional colors for Central Javanese batik were made from natural ingredients and consisted primarily of beige, blue, brown and black.
The oldest color that was used in traditional batik making was blue. The color was made from the leaves of the Indigo plant. The leaves were mixed with molasses sugar and lime and left to stand overnight. Sometimes sap from the Tinggi tree was added to act as a fixing agent. Lighter blue was achieved by leaving the cloth in the dye bath for short periods of time. For darker colors, the cloth would be left in the dye bath for days and may have been submerged up to 8 – 10 times a day.
In traditional batik, the second color applied was a brown color called soga. The color could range from light yellow to a dark brown. The dye came from the bark of the Soga tree. Another color that was traditionally used was a dark red color called mengkuda. This dye was created from the leaves of the Morinda Citrifolia.
The final hue depended on how long the cloth was soaked in the dye bath and how often it was dipped. Skilled artisans can create many variations of these traditional colors. Aside from blue, green would be achieved by mixing blue with yellow; purple was obtained by mixing blue and red. The soga brown color mixed with indigo would produce a dark blue-black color.
The outline of the pattern is blocked out onto the cloth, traditionally with charcoal or graphite. Traditional batik designs utilize patterns handed down over the generations. It is very seldom that an artisan is so skilled that he can work from memory and would not need to draw an outline of the pattern before applying the wax. Often designs are traced from stencils or patterns called pola. Another method of tracing a pattern onto a cloth is by laying the cloth on a glass table that is illuminated from below which casts a shadow of the pattern onto the cloth. The shadow is then traced with a pencil. In large batik factories today, men usually are in charge of drawing the patterns onto the cloth. Click here to see the step-by-step process of making batik.
Once the design is drawn out onto the cloth it is then ready to be waxed. Wax is applied to the cloth over the areas of the design that the artisan wishes to remain the original color of the cloth. Normally this is white or cream.
Female workers sit on a low stool or on a mat to apply the wax with a canting. The fabric that they are working on is draped over light bamboo frames called gawangan to allow the freshly applied wax to cool and harden. The wax is heated in the wajan until it is of the desired consistency. The artisan then dips her canting into the wax to fill the bowl of the canting.
Artisans use the wax to retrace the pencil outline on the fabric. A small drop cloth is kept on the woman. s lap to protect her from hot dripping wax. The stem of the canting is held with the right hand in a horizontal position to prevent any accidental spillage, which greatly reduces the value of the final cloth. The left hand is placed behind the fabric for support. The spout does not touch the fabric, but it held just above the area the artisan is working on. To ensure the pattern is well defined, batik is waxed on both sides. True tulis batik is reversible, as the pattern should be identical on both sides.
The most experienced artisans normally do first waxings. Filling in of large areas may be entrusted to less experienced artisans. Mistakes are very difficult to correct. If wax is accidentally spilt on the cloth, the artisan will try to remove the unwanted wax by sponging it with hot water. Then a heated iron rod with a curved end is used to try and lift off the remaining wax. Spilled wax can never be completely removed so it is imperative that the artisans are very careful.
If the cap method is utilized, this procedure is normally done by men. The cap are dipped into melted wax. Just under the surface of the melted wax is a folded cloth approximately 30 centimeters square. When this cloth is saturated with wax it acts like a stamp pad. The cap is pressed into the fabric until the design side of the cap is coated with wax. The saturated cap is then stamped onto the fabric, leaving the design of the cap. This process is repeated until the entire cloth is covered. Often cap and canting methods are combined on the same piece of cloth.
Better quality batik may be waxed utilizing canting in one part of Indonesia and then sent to another part of Indonesia where the cap part of the process is completed. On better quality cap fabric great care is taken to match the pattern exactly. Lower grade batik is characterized by overlapping lines or lightened colored lines indicating the cap was not applied correctly.
After the initial wax has been applied, the fabric is ready for the first dye bath. Traditionally dying was done in earthenware tubs. Today most batik factories use large concrete vats. Above the vats are ropes with pulleys that the fabric is draped over after it has been dipped into the dye bath.
The waxed fabric is immersed in the dye bath of the first color. The amount of time it is left in the bath determines the hue of the color; darker colors require longer periods or numerous immersions. The fabric is then put into a cold water bath to harden the wax.
When the desired color has been achieved and the fabric has dried, wax is reapplied over the areas that the artisan wishes to maintain the first dye color or another color at a later stage in the dying process.
When an area that has been covered with wax previously needs to be exposed so that it can be dyed, the applied wax is scraped away with a small knife. The area is then sponged with hot water and resized with rice starch before it is re-immersed in the subsequent dye bath.
If a marble effect is desired, the wax is intentionally cracked before being placed in the dye bath. The dye seeps into the tiny cracks that create the fine lines that are characteristic of batik. Traditionally, cracks were a sign of inferior cloth especially on indigo color batik. On brown batik, however, the marble effect was accepted.
The number of colors in batik represents how many times it was immersed in the dye bath and how many times wax had to be applied and removed. A multicolored batik represents a lot more work that a single or two-color piece. Numerous dye processes are usually reflected in the price of the cloth. Nowadays, chemical dyes have pretty much replaced traditional dyes, so colors are endless and much more liberally used.
Dayak, also spelled Dyak, Dutch Dajak, the non-Muslim indigenous peoples of the island of Borneo, most of whom traditionally lived along the banks of the larger rivers. Their languages all belong to the Indonesian branch of the Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian) language family. Dayak is a generic term that has no precise ethnic or tribal significance. Especially in Indonesian Borneo (Kalimantan), it is applied to any of the (non-Muslim) indigenous peoples of the interior of the island (as opposed to the largely Malay population of the coastal areas). In Malaysian Borneo (Sarawak and Sabah), it is used somewhat less extensively and is often understood locally to refer specifically to Iban (formerly called Sea Dayak) and Bidayuh (formerly called Land Dayak) peoples. At the turn of the 21st century the Dayak population of Borneo could be estimated roughly at 2.2 million.Iban girls in a Gawai Dayak parade, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia.© Gini Gorlinski
Although lines of demarcation are often difficult to establish, the most prominent of the numerous Dayak subgroups are the Kayan (in Kalimantan usually called Bahau) and Kenyah, primarily of southeastern Sarawak and eastern Kalimantan; the Ngaju of central and southern Kalimantan; the Bidayuh of southwestern Sarawak and western Kalimantan; and the Iban of Sarawak.longhouseKayan longhouse on the Balui River, Sarawak, Malaysia.© Gini Gorlinski
In the past, the highly developed and complex religious practices of the Dayak peoples involved numerous local spirits and omen animals. Intertribal warfare was common, with headhunting a major feature. Since the mid-20th century, however, Dayak peoples have steadily adopted Anglicanism, Roman Catholicism, and Protestantism; by the early 21st century the vast majority of the population was Christian.
Historically, these riverine peoples lived mostly in longhouse communities, seldom with more than a few hundred members, and traced their descent through both the male and female lines. The family was the basic unit, and children remained with their parents until married. Despite the lack of unity between groups closely related in language, custom, and marriage, a boy often sought his bride outside his own village and went to live in her community. In contemporary society, however, many young Dayak men and women leave home before they are married, often to study or work in urban areas; many also pursue rural employment, usually at timber camps or on oil palm plantations.longhouseA Dayak longhouse in Sarawak, Malaysia.© charles taylor/FotoliaGet unlimited ad-free access to all Britannica’s trusted content.Start Your Free Trial Today
Among the Iban and Bidayuh, there have never been any formal class distinctions. The Kayan and Kenyah, by contrast, traditionally recognized three main strata of society—the upper stratum consisting of the family and near relatives of the village chiefs, the middle consisting of common villagers, and the lower comprising captives of war and other persons looked down upon for various reasons. While still recognized by many older villagers today, class distinctions have lost much of their meaning for the younger generation.
Most Dayak village economies are based on the shifting cultivation of hill rice for subsistence (as opposed to sale). Fishing and hunting are subsidiary activities. Traditional iron tools, such as machetes and spears, are still important, although blowpipes are most significant as cultural artifacts in the 21st century.
INDONESIAN ORCHESTRA
Gamelan, also spelled gamelang or gamelin, the indigenous orchestra type of the islands of Java and Bali, in Indonesia, consisting largely of several varieties of gongs and various sets of tuned metal instruments that are struck with mallets. The gongs are either suspended vertically or, as with the knobbed-centre, kettle-shaped gongs of the bonang, placed flat. Percussive melodic instruments include the bonang, the xylophone (gambang kayu), and various metallophones (instruments with a series of tuned metal plates, either suspended over a resonance trough or on resonance tubes). A sustained melody is played either by the bamboo flute (suling) or by a bowed stringed instrument (rebab) or is sung—the last especially when, as often occurs, the gamelan is used to accompany theatrical performances, or wayang. The voice is then part of the orchestral texture. Dominating these two groups of instruments is the drum (kendang), which unites them and acts as leader. Javanese gamelans frequently include singers, while most Balinese gamelans consist exclusively of percussion instruments. Many types of gamelans, of different sizes and for a variety of purposes, may be distinguished.
No two gamelans are tuned precisely alike; rather, each instrument is tuned to match the ensemble for which it is intended rather than to an external standard of pitch. A gamelan may be tuned to the scale of slendro (in which the octave is divided into five tones roughly equidistant) or to pelog (a scale consisting of seven notes of varying intervals of which five are given principal stress). The so-called double gamelans of Java consist of both a slendro and a pelog set of instruments, which typically share one or two common pitches. The modes (patet) of Javanese gamelan music are determined in part by the relative placement on either scale of the basic note (dong) and its fifth above and fifth below. (A fifth is an interval more or less the size of that formed by five adjacent white keys on a piano.)
The highly developed polyphony (multipart music) or heterophony (music in which one part varies a melody played simultaneously in another part) of the gamelan has a rhythmic origin. A nuclear theme typically extends over a number of four-beat “bars,” against which other instruments play a related countermelody. Another group plays rhythmic paraphrases of this theme, and a fourth group fills out the texture with delicate rhythmic patterns. Highly important are the punctuating, or colotomic, instruments that divide the musical sentence, marking, as it were, the commas, semicolons, and periods. This last-named function is done with the big gong. Over this shimmering, variegated pattern of hammered sound floats the uninterrupted melodic line of the voice, the flute, or the rebab.
Javanese language (Javanese: basa Jawa, Indonesian: bahasa Jawa) is the language of the people in the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, in Indonesia. In addition, there are also some pockets of Javanese speakers in the northern coast of western Java. It is the native language of more than 75,500,000 people.
The Javanese language is part of the Austronesian family, and is therefore related to Indonesian and other Malay varieties. Many speakers of Javanese also speak Indonesian for official and commercial purposes and to communicate with non-Javanese Indonesians.
Outside Indonesia, there are large communities of Javanese-speaking people in the neighbouring countries such as East Timor, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, and also Hong Kong and Taiwan. In addition there are also Javanese-speaking people in Suriname, the Netherlands, and New Caledonia. The Javanese speakers in Malaysia are especially found in the states of Selangor and Johor. For distribution in other parts, as far as Suriname, see Demographic distribution of Javanese speakers below.
Introduction Javanese
Belongs to the Sundic sub-branch of the Western Malayo-Polynesian (also called Hesperonesian) branch of the Malayo-Polynesian subfamily of the Austronesian super family. It is a close linguistic relative of Malay, Sundanese, Madurese, Balinese, and to a lesser extent, of various Sumatran and Borneo languages, including Malagasy and Philippine languages.
Javanese is spoken in Central Java and East Java, as well as on the north coast of West Java. In Madura, Bali, Lombok and the Sunda region of West Java, Javanese is also used as a literary language. It was the court language in Palembang, South Sumatra, until their palace was sacked by the Dutch in the late 18th century.
Javanese can be regarded as one of the classical languages of the world, with a vast literature spanning more than 12 centuries. Scholars divide the development of Javanese language in four different stages:
Old Javanese, from the 9th century
Middle Javanese, from the 13th century
New Javanese, from the 16th century
Modern Javanese, from 20th century (this classification is not used universally)
Javanese is written with the Javanese script (a descendant of the Brahmi script of India), Arabo-Javanese script, Arabic script (modified for Javanese) and Latin script.
Although not currently an official language anywhere, Javanese is the Austronesian language with the largest number of native speakers. It is spoken or understood by approximately 80 million people. At least 45% of the total population of Indonesia are of Javanese descent or live in an area where Javanese is the dominant language. Four out of five Indonesian presidents since 1945 are of Javanese descent. It is therefore not surprising that Javanese has a deep impact on the development of Indonesian, the national language of Indonesia, which is a modern dialect of Malay.
There are three main dialects of Modern Javanese: Central Javanese, Eastern Javanese and Western Javanese. There is a dialect continuum from Banten in the extreme west of Java to Banyuwangi, in the foremost eastern corner of the island. All Javanese dialects are more or less mutually intelligible.
source : http://musikjavanese.blogspot.com/2010/05/javanese-articles-javanese-language.html
Since many years ago, gudeg, traditional food made from young jackfruit, has been the most popular food in Yogyakarta. Not only in ‘gudeg center’, can you also find this food in every part of the city. Dried gudeg becomes the most wanted gift from Jogja.Share on
Price
IDR 7,000 – IDR 35,000 (Gudeg)
IDR 50,000 – IDR 150,000 (Gudeg kering)
If New York is called as “Big Apple” and Jakarta as “Big Durian”, Yogyakarta is possibly called “Big Jackfruit” because of the well-known gudeg. Gudeg becomes a main menu for those who visit Java Island. Gori (young jackfruit) is cooked together with coconut milk and many spices for hours. After it is done, the gori will taste sweet. Gudeg is usually served with hot krecek (cow skin), telur pindang (egg), tahu and tempe bacem (soya cake), ayam opor or bacem (chicken), and areh gurih (coconut milk dressing) that give special sensation when you eat it.
For many people, gudeg has only one style, but actually, there are three kinds of gudeg, namely gudeg kering, gudeg basah, and gudeg manggar. Gudeg basah is served with yummy coconut milk gravy. This food, which is a right choice for breakfast, can be found on Kaliurang Street (Barek area), at Gudeg Batas Kota (Adisucipto Street in front of Saphir Square) or the street hawker at traditional markets in Yogyakarta.
Gudeg kering (dry gudeg) is cooked longer than gudeg basah until the gravy dry and the color turns into brown. It also tastes sweeter. It can last for 24 hours or more if it is stored in a refrigerator. The seller usually put it in besek (a box made of woven bamboo) or kendil (clay pot). You can buy this kind of food in many gudeg store like Gudeg Yu Narni (+62 274 867231) on Palagan Tentara Street 102, Gudeg Yu Djum (+62 274 515968) on Kaliurang Street Km 4,5 Karang Asem CT III/22, Gudeg Bu Ahmad (+62 274 520049) on Kaliurang Street Km 4,5, Gudeg Bu Tjitro 1925 (+62 274 564734 on Janti Street 330, and gudeg center in an area called Wijilan.
Besides gudeg from young jackfruit, Yogyakarta also has gudeg manggar. Manggar means coconut flower that bears a different sensation in this food because this flower has crunchy texture like mushroom. However, the limitation stock of raw material (manggar) makes this food is hardly found. Some sellers should close their restaurant and only serves this food with order. There are only several places to find it like in Bantul.
Gudeg can be found in every place in Yogyakarta, but Wijilan and Barek are the most famous areas as Gudeg center. Wijilan is located not far from Keraton Yogyakarta (the Palace of Yogyakarta) and can be reached by becak (pedicab) or 10 minutes walking. Initiated by Bu Slamet who started to sell gudeg in 1946, now there are more than 17 gudeg restaurants in Wijilan. You can choose it as you wish, for example Gudeg Yu Djum that serves gudeg kering with sweet taste as other traditional food from Yogyakarta. The krecek is cut into dice and cooked as sambal goreng (food that is cooked with red chili and coconut milk). If you want gudeg with a bit sweet taste, you can visit Gudeg Bu Slamet (+62 274 380429 on Wijilan Street 17). Gudeg restaurants in this area usually open at 5.30a.m to 8p.m except Gudeg Bu Tarto (Wijilan Street 15) that opens for 24 hours.
If you are on the north side of Yogyakarta, you can visit an area near Gadjah Mada University called Barek. Every day early in the morning before the sun rises, you can find many gudeg sellers in this area. However, when the morning comes, they will tidy up their load. But you can still find the famous Gudeg Bu Ahmad (+62 274 520049) on Kaliurang Street Km 4,5, Gudeg Yu Djum (+62 274 515968) on Kaliurang Street Km 4,5 Karang Asem CT III/22, Yu Narni (+62 274 589687) on Kaliurang Street Km 4,5 Karang Asem CT III/19, or Bu Tini that opens until night. These restaurants also allow you to see the process of gudeg making directly.
Yogyakarta is a never-sleep city and one of the things that always make it awake is gudeg. Many gudeg sellers sell their food from the dawn till midnight. When the sun starts to shine, Wijilan and Barek also start to be alive and many people start their day by having gudeg as their breakfast. The sellers in these areas will patiently serves the visitors until 8 or 9p.m. Do you want to eat gudeg in the middle of the night? You don’t need to worry because Gudeg Batas Kota (on Adisucipto Sreet in front of Saphir Square) opens at 10p.m and is ready to serve you with its yummy food. For other alternative, you can try the sensation of how to eat gudeg in the kitchen where it is cooked at Gudeg Pawon on Janturan Street 36-38 Warungboto.
source : https://www.yogyes.com/en/yogyakarta-culinary/gudeg/
Dugderan is an annual tradition celebrated by Semarangese, Central Java and the tradition has been existed for more than 150 years. Dugderan derives from two onomatopea ..”dug (doog) means hit things such as beduk (used at mosques) and “der” (bang) from firework. It was held initially for gathering Muslims around Semarang around mosque and the regent would like to announce the commence of Ramazan along with the ulama. Initiated by ‘Dug’ and ended by ‘Der’, so that’s why it’s the origin of DUGDERAN tradition.
One week before Ramazan, there is a special market called DUGDERAN market located around Semarang Grand Mosque (Masjid Agung Semarang). It looks like ordinary bazaar, but some also sell an imaginary creature for kids named ‘Warak Ngendog’. Warak Ngendog has got so many meanings as it is representative of various cultures exist in Semarang. Chinese from its face and color; Arabic from its hair, and Javanese from its body. Combination between goat, dragon and camel as people said. Warak Ngendog has become Semarang’s mascot and it appears everywhere.
DUGDERAN nowadays is still celebrated as tradition before Ramazan and Warak Ngendog dolls are sold out because it only appears once a year.
I have left Semarang and I missed this celebration. I hope next year I can visit Semarang again for celebrating DUGDERAN. Here I’d like to share to you DUGDER dance as representative of Semarangese happines for facing this forthcoming holy month.
source : https://bambangpriantono.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/p7300196.jpg
Indonesia in very well known for its richness in culture. From Sabang to Merauke, there’s always interesting thing to discover. One that catch most attention is the unique architecture of each traditional house or so called “Rumah Adat” that is differ from one region to another. One of traditional houses that gains so many popularity and adapted its architecture in hospitality sectors is Joglo. Originally Joglo refers to traditional wooden house in Java, especially in Central Java.
Joglo house has a main building framework consisting of soko guru in the form of four main pillars buffer the structure of buildings and intercropping in the form of a beam arrangement supported by soko guru.
The arrangement of the room in Joglo is generally divided into three parts, namely the meeting room called pendhapa, the living room or the space used to hold a puppet show called pringgitan, and the back room called dalem or omah jero as the family room. In this space there are three senthong (room) which are left senthong, central senthong and right senthong.
Hierarchical principles apply in the pattern of spatial arrangement. Each room has different values, front space is for public and the back is for private.
What is more unique is every room from the terrace, the marquee to the rear (pawon and pekiwan) not only has a function but also loaded with elements of Javanese ethnic life philosophy. Religion or belief in the God is embodied with the worship space of Dewi Sri (Goddess of fertility and happiness of the household) in accordance with the livelihood of Javanese society (farmer-agrarian). The room is called krobongan, which is the room that always empty, but complete with bed, mattress, pillow, and bolsters and can also be used for the first night for newlyweds.
Krobongan is a special room created as a tribute to Dewi Sri who is considered very instrumental in all the joints of Javanese society life.
Therefore in Joglo house space mapping, there are three main room maps, namely:
Pendopo is located in front, and has no walls, it is related to Javanese philosophy which always be friendly, open and does not choose in terms of receiving guests. In general, the pendopo is not given a table or chair, only given a mat when there are guests who come, so the atmosphere of the visit will have the equal and friendly nuance (rukun agawe santosa).
Pringgitan has a conceptual meaning –a symbol of the homeowner that he is only a shadow or a puppet from Dewi Sri (the goddess of rice) which is the source of all life, fertility, and happiness. Pringgitan is the room between the pendhapa and dalem, used as the place for puppet show (ringgit), which is the show associated with the ruwatan ceremony for the sukerta children (the child who became the prey of Bathara Kala, the great Giant God).
Dalem or Main Room is the part of the room used as a family residence. Inside dalem there are several rooms called senthong.
In the past, senthong only consisted of three rooms only. The first room is reserved for the men, the second room is emptied, and the third room is used by the women.
This emptied room is called krobongan and filled with bed as well as with all the usual room equipment. This empty room is used to store heirlooms and as a space to worship Dewi Sri. This is the most sacred part of the house.
Cipta Bali Architect sell Rumah Joglo, Rumah Gladak, classic meuble, old timber, and old furnitures.
Saman Dance Aceh Indonesia – History and Development
Saman dance is one of Aceh’s most famous dance until now. The dance came from the Highlands region of Gayo. In the past, Saman is usually done to commemorate important event in the customary culture of Aceh people. The dance is also usually done to commemorate the birth of the Prophet Muhammad.ads
During the period of Saman Dance in the Sultanate region of Aceh, there is a decree that state Saman Dance can only be done on the celebration of the Birth of the Prophet Muhammad in the mosque area near Gayo.
However, in its development, the dance then also allowed later to be played at public events such as birthday parties, weddings, circumcision party, and other important events till today.
On the other hand, the name “Saman” is obtained from one of the greatest Islamic scholars of Aceh, named Syech Saman. Saman dance usually performed using the attribute of musical instruments, the form of a hand drum and the usage of the sound of the dancers and patting their chest and hands. Both are usually combined with a chest patting and thigh slapping while they perform in synchronization and threw their body in different directions at the rhythm.
In addition, especially in the current condition, this dance is performed also on occasions of an official nature, such as the visitation of the guests between the district and the state , or the opening of a festival and other events that transpire in the region. Among the diverse dances from all over Indonesia, saman dance that is included in this category of dance was deemed very interesting.
The unique property lies in the Saman dance motions that were so amazingly in sync. The saman dancers can move in uniform to the rhythm of music harmony. Movements are in sync as the body is moved, danced with a harmonic flow, following the dynamic of the songs. Very interesting indeed, with many Saman dances captivate the audience on TV and not just from Indonesia, but also from abroad.
THE DIVERSITY CULTURES OF INDONESIA 
