Nyadran: A pre-Ramadhan Javanese ritual to pay respect to one’s ancestors

Thu, June 9, 2016 / 03:52 pm

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Family members and relatives sit in a circle around containers filled with various cakes and snacks at the Gunung cemetery in Sukabumi, Cepogo, Boyolali in Central Java. The Jakarta Post/ Albertus Magnus Kus Hendratmo
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Residents join a mass prayer to pay their respects to their ancestors buried at the cemetery. The Jakarta Post/ Albertus Magnus Kus Hendratmo
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All residents, including children, take part in the Nyadran ritual. The tradition, which is performed to welcome the fasting month of Ramadhan, also aims to strengthen family bonds. The Jakarta Post/ Albertus Magnus Kus Hendratmo
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Snacks and cakes are arranged neatly inside tenongs, containers made of aluminum or bamboo. The Jakarta Post/ Albertus Magnus Kus Hendratmo
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The tradition of Nyadran has become a bonding time for family members and relatives who live outside their home village and city to perform the ritual. The Jakarta Post/ Albertus Magnus Kus Hendratmo
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A resident collects money from family members and relatives to be given to the cemetery caretaker to maintain the cemetery’s cleanliness and tidiness. The Jakarta Post/ Albertus Magnus Kus Hendratmo
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Residents prepare incense to be burned as part of their prayer to honor their ancestors. The Jakarta Post/ Albertus Magnus Kus Hendratmo
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A man recites prayers at the grave of one of his ancestors. The Jakarta Post/ Albertus Magnus Kus Hendratmo
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Before the Nyadran ritual, residents of Cepogo, Boyolali, sweep and clean up their ancestors’ graves. The Jakarta Post/ Albertus Magnus Kus Hendratmo
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A resident carrying an empty tenong heads home after the ritual. The Jakarta Post/ Albertus Magnus Kus Hendratmo
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After the ritual, the residents head home and some pay a visit to their neighbors. The Jakarta Post/ Albertus Magnus Kus Hendratmo

Dozen of Cepogo residents at the foot of Mount Merapi and Mount Merbabu in Central Java observe the annual tradition of Nyadran in the Javanese month of Ruwah to welcome the fasting month of Ramadhan

The ritual performed by the Muslims in accordance with the Javanese lunar calendar centers around public cemeteries where deceased relatives are buried.

The Gunung cemetery in Sukabumi village, Cepogo, Boyolali, Central Java is a cemetery frequently visited by residents performing the ritual. Congregation members bring various traditional cakes and snacks neatly arranged inside containers, called tenong, made of aluminum or bamboo.

All food items inside the tenong are up for grabs during the ritual as residents believe that they will attain wealth and prosperity in the coming years if they bring home an empty tenong.

After eating the food together, the residents continue the ritual by visiting the graves of their ancestors.

The word nyadran is believed to come from the word sraddha, becoming nyraddha then nyraddhan. The late Javanese linguist and Catholic priest PJ Zoetmulder, in his book Kalangwan said that the sraddha ceremony could be traced back to the Buddhist-Hindu Majapahit kingdom, around 1350, when it was was held to commemorate the death of Queen Tribhuwana Tungga Dewi.

Interestingly, the transition from the Buddhist-Hindu Majapahit to the Muslim Majapahit did not cause the tradition to vanish. [dmr]