[Kabar-indonesia] Yogya's ancient rituals strengthen community during Ramadhan

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

The Jakarta Post 
Monday, October 2, 2006

Ancient rituals strengthen community during Ramadhan 

Photo: Community Kinship: Children at Kauman hamlet in Pandak, Bantul, 
eat rice porridge to break the fast together, a generations-old tradition 
during Ramadhan. (JP/Slamet Susanto) 

Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Bantul

Playing with homemade firecrackers, rope jumping and savoring traditionally 
made porridge when breaking the fast is the way Kauman residents in Bantul, 
Yogyakarta, preserve Ramadhan customs that have lasted for hundreds of years.

These rituals are the visible traits of the spirit of togetherness and mutual 
cooperation within the community, a center of Islamic missionary work first 
established during Ramadhan in the 15th century. 

Every afternoon at 4:30 p.m. during the fasting month, dozens of children 
gather at a small field beside a mosque built in the 15th century. Scores of 
bamboo poles are lined neatly outside; the "cannons" into which a combustible 
mixture is poured. 

"Ow!" a boy named Maulana, 8, yells as the device backfires and singes his 
hair. Unfazed, a minute later he continues the game. 

This firecracker is of the homemade kind, a device made of bamboo. A small 
hole is made at the base of two- to three-meter-long pole. After pouring some 
kerosene through the hole and lighting it, the contraption makes a booming sound 
like a cannon. 

"This tradition has been passed down through the generations. After playing 
with firecrackers, we usually break our fasts together with bubur (porridge)," 
said Wardani, a caretaker at the Kauman mosque, said. 

The mosque is located next to the field where the firecracker contest is 
held; the children who win get their cannons to produce the loudest bangs. 

Kauman hamlet is one of the few places where the traditional cannon game, 
which has largely disappeared from urban areas, is still played. 

Breaking the fast with porridge also has a phonetic symbolism. Bubur, in 
Javanese sounds similar to beber (proselytize) and babar, or approach. 

"Consuming porridge is like preserving the tradition of religious missionary 
work and the unity of the Islamic community, which existed during Kanjeng 
Panembahan Bodho's rule in the 15th century," said Wardani, who has helped prepare 
the dish each Ramadhan for the past 10 years. 

The porridge is made communally, with villagers chipping in with the 
ingredients to cook bubur and sayur lodeh, mixed vegetables cooked in coconut milk and 
spices. 

Every day during the month, Wardani and two other villagers, Yurkoni and 
Kasan, cook an average of four kilograms of rice to produce the porridge to serve 
around 50 people. 

Making the ketupat, or rice boiled in coconut leaf casing, at the mosque a 
day ahead of the Idul Fitri festivities, is also communal work. 

On the eve of Idul Fitri, or the last day of Ramadhan, residents go on a 
parade through the village, lighting oil lamps and performing the takbiran 
religious chant, with young men daring to try the traditional feat of takbiran kupu 
tarung, or leaping over a flaming rope. 

After performing the Idul Fitri prayer in the morning, residents usually 
visit each other's houses to strengthen the bonds of friendship. During the 
evening, they gather again outside the mosque for a similar purpose. 

To welcome in the Idul Fitri, or the Day of Victory, residents stage the 
dynamic rodhatan performance and later enjoy the opor ayam and ketupat they have 
prepared. 

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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