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Tradition (part 1)

Somehow, I think that I am not a good citizen of Indonesia, particularly of Java island, for my only few knowledge of the traditional culture in this country. Indonesia, indeed, has a loooooot of traditions in which if people get to know closer, they will find the meanings behind them.

I am a Javanese, however, I don't think I know much about my tribe's culture. Java is one of biggest islands in Indonesia, which has the most crowded population. Java itself has several tribes live in which have various culture and tradition. Roughly, there are some influential tribes in this island, Sundanese (West Java), Betawi (DKI Jakarta), Javanese (Central Java), Madura (East java). At this time, I'd like to write about some traditions in my hometown, Central Java.

Living here for the whole of my life, doesn't mean that I know all of the culture and tradition here. I only know some traditional games and the custom of traditional wedding ceremony. Still, I can watch those kind of Javanese culture in my surroundings in a village I live, in the capital of Central Java. As we all know, nowadays, most people don't really have concern about culture and tradition since they are busy with many products of hi-tech and globalization. The change of people's life style affects their living. Below, I'd like to share some traditional culture of Java.

1. Games

There are lots of traditional games of Javanese, such as Cublak-cublak Suweng, Dakonan, Gobak Sodor, Bethengan, Kasti, Jithungan, etc.

Cublak2 Suweng is a game played by several persons making a circle, put their palm forward, then one of the player's hand moves around the palms. The other players sing a particular song for this game. Meanwhile, Dakonan is a game played by a pair of kids, who have to fill out every hole on the "papan dakon" around, with seeds provided. This functions to sharpen one's precision and sportsmanship.

Gobak Sodor and Bethengan are quite similar. The players are divided into two teams. The players have to protect each territory and prevent the opponent team from entering it and grabbing one of the member that make them lost due to the lack of persons. However, Gobak Sodor is different to Bethengan that the players are allowed to go around their territory without any restriction, while the other one's players have to grab or touch a certain thing during the game in order to keep alive.

I remember the last time I played those game was when I was at Elementary School. I used to play with my neighbors, around the houses. We usually played the games at night under the fullmoon in my front yard.

Kasthi and Jithungan are usually played during the day. Kasthi can be compared to Javanese baseball since they both need a tennis-ball-size-like ball and quite similar rules to play. Once, when the player is hit by the ball, then he/she lost. Whilst, Jithungan is what so called hide and seek. We have to search for the hidden players.

Children, lately, do not recognize those kinds of games. They are more likely to play video games, PS, computer, or watching TV instead. They don't get used to play outside, making (real) friends, socialize to their peers. Actually, this may reduce their regards and tolerances to others. Even though they are smarter for being expert in technology, this habit encourages individualism among children. Nevertheless, as Javanese, we are supposed to preserve our culture and introduce it to the kids, since there are many moral values which are fruitful in living.

...to be continued...