“… No need for greed or hunger… A brotherhood of man… Imagine all the people… Sharing all the world...” John Lennon wrote these lyrics in his wonderful song “Imagine”, which Rolling Stone magazine once voted the third greatest song of all time. Over the years, “Imagine” has inspired worldwide desire for peace, human rights and egalitarianism.
Lennon sang that he could only imagine all people in the world living life in peace and brotherhood, but the Javanese people have been doing it for hundreds of years. In the second month of the Javanese calendar, Sapar, many Javanese villagers hold a Slametan Saparan, a celebratory feast. In many places Slametan Saparan is called Rebo Pungkasan because the feast is held in the last Wednesday of the month, Rebo.
In this feast all the villagers – both rich and poor – come to the community hall (pendopo) bringing whatever food they have to share and eat together. The feast is a ritual designed for thanksgiving for good harvests. Together with cleansing the village to give it protection from evil spirits, in a sense the ceremony preserves a state of social and spiritual equilibrium.
On March 14 at Pendoworejo village, Kulonprogo regency, the Menoreh Culture Village Society will hold a Slametan Saparan at Kayangan Water Dam and visitors are invited. The ritual begins with bathing jaran kepang (bamboo horses) used in Jathilan dances. All Jathilan groups from Pendoworejo and nearby villages will participate. Jogjakarta artists Godod Sutejo, Prijomustiko Fauzi, Waluyo Sutopo and Srimulyono will also join this occasion to share their talents and artistic sensitivities with villagers and visitors.
Jathilan is a mystical and very interesting dance. While gamelan music plays, dancers wearing colorful costumes ride jaran kepang as they start their performance. The main event of Jathilan is when the dancers go into trances, when supernatural and sometimes scary things happen, for example eating broken glass or peeling a whole coconut with their teeth. Dancers are visited by Dang Hyang (the spirit/ghost of nature) and their ancestors, so villagers can communicate and honor the deceased.
Before the Jathilan, the villagers pray together for good harvests, blessings and forgiveness. In Pendoworejo, this feast is also held as a commemoration of Bei Kayangan, the founder of the village. Around the 15th century Bei Kayangan followed King Brawijaya V, who left the Majapahit Kingdom on a spiritual journey. En route, they stopped near Kayangan and Ngiwa Rivers. Bei Kayangan and his servants then built this village at the convergence of the two rivers.
When the bathing ritual is finished, the villagers and guests gather to eat together. The foods served for this feast are panggang mas, or unsalted fried egg; apem sejodo, baked or steamed cakes made of lightly fermented rice flour; urapan, Javanese salad with spiced, grated coconut; and special lele bothok, unsalted catfish steamed with grated coconut and spices.
As for the Saparan ritual in other places, in Wonokromo the villagers parade a big lemper, glutinous rice steamed and covered with a banana leaf with beef inside. In Wonolelo, villagers slaughter a bekakak couple; effigies made from glutinous rice in the shape of a bride and groom filled with palm sugar syrup as the symbol of blood. Bekakak couple symbolizes Ki Wirosuto and his wife who sacrificed their life at Gamping cave for safety of their village.
The purpose of all events in the ritual: praying, bathing the bamboo horses, feasting and the Jathilan dance is for communal and also individual purification of the villagers’ spirits, their relationships with each other and with the environment. And the most important thing is removing from their lives greed, selfishness and other evil habits.
When everybody feels the same as the modest and generous villagers of Pendoworejo that they need this ritual and the spirit within to purify their lives and environment in togetherness, we can realize the lyrics of John Lennon’s song: “…I hope someday you’ll join us … and the world will live as one”.
If you are interested in attending this feast, call Pak Godod Sutejo at (0274) 370-213 for more information and directions.
Author : www.jogjapages.com
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