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View all search results'Cowongan': a ritual to invite rain in Cilacap
Let it rain: Two women hold a cowong puppet believed to be possessed by an angel during a ritual asking for rain in Karangmangu village, Cilacap, Central Java
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span class="caption">Let it rain: Two women hold a cowong puppet believed to be possessed by an angel during a ritual asking for rain in Karangmangu village, Cilacap, Central Java.
Rural communities in Cilacap regency, Central Java, recently resorted to a traditional ritual to overcome the current prolonged drought. They performed the Tari Cowongan dance to invite a spirit who is believed able to bring rain.
Over 2,000 people in Karangmangu village, Kroya district, Cilacap, conducted the Tari Cowongan, a dance ritual lasting for 15 nights in an earnest plea for rain, following the long dry season that has deprived them of clean water and scorched their agricultural land.
'This is the 15th and last round of our traditional ritual to plead with Almighty God to bestow rain,' San Nikmat, 60, chairman of the Cowongan traditional dance troupe, told The Jakarta Post on the weekend.
Incredibly, as soon as the Cowongan ritual began, rain started falling quite heavily in the arena, also falling over the whole of Cilacap regency and part of neighboring Banyumas regency.
'Praise be to Almighty God, our prayers for rain have been granted after offering this ritual for 15 nights,' said San Nikmat, who couldn't hold back his tears as he gripped his cowong, a 22-year-old puppet with a coconut-shell head.
The ritual was attended by the village head, thousands of local residents and people from nearby areas, along with Cilacap Deputy Regent Ahmad Edi Susanto, who solemnly followed the ceremony in spite of the rain.
'This ritual must only be conducted when the dry season is really very grave and the situation is urgent,' San said, adding that the last Cowongan had been carried out during a long drought seven years ago.
Dancing in the rain: A man holds an umbrella over the cowong puppet after rain began to fall during the ritual.
According to him, Cowongan is a dance performed to invite the spirit of an angel to enter the cowong puppet, after which the puppet will move and dance while being held by two people, who also follow the puppet's dance movements. Dozens of dance troupe members also join the performance along with interested visitors.
Meanwhile, the thousands of spectators encircle the dancers, with Javanese traditional music accompaniment. The musical instruments comprise a drum, angklung (bamboo pipe instrument) and sections of gamelan. Some of those participating in the dance were occasionally also possessed by spirits.
'This cowong puppet with a coconut-shell head was made through a long ritual procedure. I've taken care of it for 22 years. I keep it in a special room with a ritual held on the eve of Tuesdays and Fridays of Kliwon [fifth day of the Javanese five-day week]. It won't be replaced before I get an instruction from the angel,' San Nikmat.
Deputy Regent Ahmad said the Cowongan traditional ritual had been protected as part of the regency's arts and culture. 'It's our cultural treasure and in Cilacap this ritual is only found in Kroya. We highly appreciate the invaluable tradition,' he said.
He said the dry season in Cilacap had lasted for over five months, with 77 villages in 13 of Cilacap's 24 districts facing a clean water crisis. The six districts suffering the most are Bantarsari, Gandrungmangu, Kawunganten, Patimuan, Kedungreja and Kesugihan.
'We've delivered over 150 tanks of clean water to the parched villages,' he added.
Some of the residents watching the ritual expressed their belief while others were skeptical.
'Believe it or not, the fact was as the 15th ritual took place, quite a big shower came down, soaking the spectators,' said Karmiharjo, 40, a Kroya resident who had followed the rare event of Cowongan only once before.
However, Ngudi Utomo, a cultural observer from Banyumas who also attended the large-scale ritual, said the rain falling amid the Cowongan procession was not surprising. In his view, the phenomenon was not far from that created by rainmakers capable of transferring clouds to produce rain.
'But it won't last long, only for a while. A season remains a vast phenomenon of nature that men will find it impossible to change within an instant,' Ngudi told the Post.
Community event: Villagers gather to watch the cowongan dance ritual, with some even joining in.
Musical accompaniment: Gamelan musicians, or wiyogo, tend to their instruments during the tari cowongan dance ritual, which is only performed during long dry seasons.
' Photos by Agus Maryono
