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Pomp for the Prophet in Yogyakarta
Old school: One of the several parades held during the week-long Sekaten Festival in Yogyakarta
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Old school: One of the several parades held during the week-long Sekaten Festival in Yogyakarta.
The Yogyakarta Palace, as the successor of the Demak and Mataram sultanates, has always worked to preserve and promote religious ceremonies, albeit with a distinctly Javanese touch.
This traditional approach was evident during the recent Sekaten Festival held in the city to commemorate the birth of the Prophet Muhammad.
The festival ' and its ensuing ceremonies ' lasted for a week and was filled with pomp, performance and processions.
One event saw performers playing in two separate heirloom gamelan orchestras at Yogyakarta's Grand Mosque, while there were also immense gunungan rice cones served with assorted dishes to mark the festivities.
People also joined in evening celebrations of the Maulud Nabi, or the Prophet's Birthday, and the Garebeg Sekaten, when crowds scrambled to get some of the goodies from seven gunungan that were distributed at the Grand Mosque, the Governor's Office and the Pakualam Palace.
As a palace tradition steeped in Javanese nuances, the rituals and parades were joined by people from a host of ethnic and religious backgrounds 'showcasing the diversity of the nation's cultural wealth as styled in the Sekaten Festival.
Photos by JP/Tarko Sudiarno
