A baby shower is always a joyful moment for an expectant mother. In Javanese tradition, the "baby shower" feast is a significant family event that not only aims to increases the chances of the firstborn's smooth delivery and the mother's good health, but also celebrates the life cycle.
When the pregnancy reaches its seventh month, the family will hold mitoni - derived from Javanese word pitu (seven). Mitoni can be translated to mean an activity where the number seven is important.
This ceremony is usually held in the evening at home and attended by close relatives, friends and neighbors.
At my cousin's recent mitoni, the ceremony started with sungkeman in which the pregnant woman kneeled down and kissed the hands of her parents and in-laws, asking their blessing for a smooth labor.
Next step is siraman, or showering, where seven family members, usually the parents and in-laws and oldest relatives, each pour a bowl of water on the mother-to-be. The ceremony is the symbol of cleansing the pregnant woman physically and spiritually, so the labor process would be easy and free of moral burdens.
After that, the father-to-be lets go of an egg inside his wife's sarong, symbolizing an easy labor. If the egg breaks, according to Javanese belief, the baby is a girl, but if it doesn't, the family may expect a baby boy.
On the next step, the mother of the pregnant woman will pass through the sarong of her daughter a pair of coconut shells each carved with pictures of Kamajaya and Dewi Ratih or Arjuna and Sembadra. This ritual is called brojolan. She will then hand them to the mother-in-law who would tuck them in bed just like a sleeping baby. Since the couples symbolize the ideal figures in Javanese culture, the family expects the baby to be handsome or beautiful and have a good character just like them.
It will be followed by the changing of the mother-to-be's sarong seven times, each time of different batik patterns: sidomukti, sidoluhur, truntum, parangkusuma, semen rama, udan riris, and cakar ayam. Lurik sarong with lasem pattern is the last one worn, at the end of the ceremony, and is sewn to fit. All of the patterns symbolize greatness in the hope that the baby could have a great character.
The father-to-be then cut the strings of coconut leaves (lilitan janur) tied around the mother's belly and breaking a cauldron made of a coconut shell, all as a wish for the mother's health.
The mother then has to drink a herbal medicine drink (jamu sorongan) for the baby's health and the father has to steal eggs and run around the room as a symbol of a swift labor. After that, a respective relative who presides over the ceremony will close it with prayers.
The host usually provides rujak (mixed fruit and vegetables with spicy peanut sauce) for the guests without weighing the ingredients. The Javanese belief is that if the rujak is too spicy, the baby will be a girl. The guests have to trade their clay coins (provided by the host) for a dish of rujak. Some hosts may also provide cendol (sweetened coconut milk beverage with doughy rice-flour droplets) for the guests to enjoy.
Although the ceremony may vary in different families, they embrace the same purpose: wishing for the mother's easy labor and the baby's health. This Javanese version of a baby shower also symbolizes lots of traditional beliefs that still survive religion and modernization.
Prita Nur Aini Student of Archeology Studies University of Indonesia
