Beyond The Palace
Tuesday, May 01, 2012
I guessed
'unique' was the best word to describe Yogyakarta. Having visited the
place for several times, I found it like a small ancient kingdom within a
modern republic. On my last visit to the city, I had a chance to talk with an
"Abdi Dalem," a royal servant dressed in traditional uniform that was
commonly found at the palace. The short convertation we had took place on the
street. It was a bit strange for me to find an "Abdi Dalem" outside
the palace complex.
The rain fell on that Saturday
afternoon. My friend and I decided to shelter in front of a shop at the
corner of Jalan H.O.S. Cokroaminoto and Jalan Godean, and wait for the rain to
stop. There we found a man wearing a traditional dress, standing next to his
old motorcycle. Apparently, he was an "Abdi Dalem." I couldn't help
but wondering what he was doing there.
Despite the inability to speak
Javanese, I approached the guy and smiled. And yes, smiling was the best way to
break the ice. Somehow he could have figured me out as a
tourist.
"I just performed in a puppet
show in Sri Manganti (one of the seven complexes in the royal palace). I'm a
puppeteer" said the man proudly about his job. "I play once a week, on every
Saturday." He added.
Like most Indonesian in common, we
didn't try to get to know each other's name at first. After everything got
warm, we tell our names to each other.
His name was Sukur Rahmad
Hadipranoto. As a royal servant, he got a special name given by The Sultan;
Cermo Briawan. Being a royal servant was not his full time job. He ran a
welding workshop at his house in Godean. Looking at him in that traditional Javanese
dress, I found it was hard to convince my self that he was a welder. He told me
that he became a royal servant because he felt obliged to serve The Sultan.
As the rain didn’t seem to stop, he
started talking about the royal stuffs. He told me that the royal palaces of
Mataram (Yogyakarta and Surakarta) actually practiced the Islamic rules. He
also convinced me that there was a strong Islamic value applied in every ritual
held by the palaces. I guessed he was trying to counter the public opinion
which said that the palaces of Mataram had practiced sort of polytheism such as
worshiping mythical figures, giving offerings to the sea, the mountains, and
also praising the Sultan in a way that people nowadays might consider it as too
much.
He gave me an instance how the Islamic
value applied in the ritual. Commonly, they served “Kue Apem” (a traditional
cake made of sugar and flour) and “Kolak” (kind of banana compote) in every
ritual. Those traditional delicacies were meant to be a symbol of purifying. “Apem”
derived from Arabic word of “Afwan,” meant to apologize. In this case, they
asked for God’s mercy. As for “Kolak,” it derived from “Khalik,” Arabic for The
Creator (God).
“When we praise The Sultan, it is
not the same as we praise Allah. We do take a bow in front of him, but it’s
just a matter of high respect” said Sukur.
“As for the rituals, those are just
a matter of cultural traditions. We have to preserve them. Deep in our hearts,
we are good Muslims, devoted only to Allah.”
To emphasize his explanation, he
told me that it took a deep thoughts and wisdom to understand the custom and
tradition.
The rain turned to be drizzling and
it was time for us to say good bye. Like what I always did to people I met
during my traveling, I beg for his permission to take his picture. With the
bright color of the folding door as the background, I kindly asked him to pose.
Soon after that, Sukur got on his old motorcycle. With no helmet and jacket on,
he sped straight to Godean. “Wasn’t it against the law?” I asked myself. “Ah…
don’t worry. It’s a tradition.” My inner voice replied.
2 comments
Someday when you come again to jogja.. Tell me.. I will bring you to another unique place hehehe
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to it :)
Delete