Prayers for a good harvest

Old faithfuls: The tingkep tandur ritual in Yogyakarta’s Kulonprogo starts with the elderly gathering in a circle, praying for a good harvest.

“This ritual represents our gratefulness for the thriving paddy. Most importantly, we are praying for grains to grow until harvest time,” said Juminem, 65, a resident of Kanoman.

Locals cannot do without this event, which has been handed down through generations, for fear of unsatisfactory crop yields, she added.

“This tradition has never been skipped since I can remember,” added the grandmother of four.

At this particular time of the year, the ritual was conducted in an open field where a half-open building had been set up to present offerings.

Villagers brought along bamboo boxes of rice with traditional dishes like oseng-oseng tempe (stir-fried tempeh with chili), fried noodles, boiled eggs and peyek teri (small-fry chips).

Village elders and religious figures prepared sego gurih (rice cooked with coconut oil and spices) and ingkung (boiled and flavored whole chickens) in large quantities. All the food from the community was arranged in the building.

Headed by religious leaders, dozens of residents sat in a circle around the offerings.

As the building was quite small, most of the villagers followed the ceremony sitting on the grass and pathways outside.

Starting with prophetic incantations, the ritual continued with villagers reciting verses from the Koran and wound up with prayers.

Blessed meal: A bamboo basket containing rice accompanied by traditional dishes like sauteed tempeh and potato is the symbol of the pre-harvest ritual.

Sego gurih and ingkung were then distributed to all community members. The post-ritual rice and chicken is believed to bring blessing to families unable to attend the event.

“As taught by the Prophet, the rice symbolizes virtue. If goodness is widespread and practiced continuously, life will improve and be peaceful,” said Sudaryo, a community figure.

Apart from taking home rice and chicken, those joining the ritual were also given food boxes to exchange with one another. This, according to Sudaryo, reflects the importance of mutual assistance in community life.

“It also manifests mutual concern and respect,” he added.

Tingkep tandur also entails the collection of voluntary contributions. To avoid envy and competition, the money contributed is inserted into the bamboo boxes to ensure anonymity. The funds are usually used for infrastructure improvements.

“It will go toward reinforcing the village path or repairing the irrigation system,” said Sudaryo.

After the food was distributed and exchanged, the residents present launched into discussions about agricultural matters, with a number of farmers discussing how to overcome pests. Given it was the worm season at the time of the ritual, the gathering concentrated on ways of getting rid of worms and carrying out field inspections.

Kanoman village chief Surana said 780 families lived in his area, with 90 percent eking a living out of farming under several cooperatives in Kanoman’s five hamlets.

“Our people, who believe in the almighty God, deem it is important to pray for an abundant harvest,
as well as work hard in the field,” he said.

However, Surana acknowledged the ritual had been less cheerful in recent years.

“Formerly, a dusk-to-dawn wayang kulit leather puppet performance would follow, with many
villagers watching the show,” Surana said.

The typical story chosen for this event would be that of Sri Bali and his trials and tribulations  to rescue the goddess of paddy, Dewi Sri, from the hands of a wicked giant.

But since 1998, the wayang show has been discontinued, because of the prevailing economic crisis
and the high cost of staging the performance.

“It’s more beneficial to spend money on infrastructure development. The crucial point here is that the significance of gratitude and prayers in tingkep tandur has not been lost and is still well maintained until today,” Surana said.

— Photos by Slamet Susanto