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Jokowi sheds tears as daughter undergoes pre-wedding ritual
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A precious moment: President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo hangs bleketepe (plaited coconut leaves) in front of his private residence on Jl. Kutai Utara, Sumber, Surakarta, Central Java, on Nov.7. (JP/Ganug Nugroho Adi)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo could not hold back his tears upon seeing his daughter, Kahiyang Ayu, undergoing a series of Javanese rituals on Tuesday before her wedding procession with Bobby Afif Nasution the following day.
Opening the wedding rituals, Jokowi hung bleketepe (plaited coconut leaves) in front of his private residence on Jl. Kutai Utara, Sumber, Surakarta, Central Java, on Tuesday morning. This was followed by siraman, or bathing the bride, as well as other rituals.
"Pak Jokowi was calm when the siraman procession took place. He shed tears during Kahiyang's sungkeman procession, which took place after the siraman,” said Surakarta Mayor FX Hadi Rudyatmo.
(Read also: Carriage escort to grace Kahiyang-Bobby wedding)
During the sungkeman, Kahiyang asked for the blessing of her parents, Jokowi and First Lady Iriana. Jokowi asked Kahiyang to be “patient” in her married life – both as a wife and as a mother. He also wished his only daughter to have good marriage with Bobby.
Jokowi and Iriana later carried out another ritual called sadeyan dawet, during which the President and First Lady offered dawet -- a traditional Javanese dessert -- to their visitors. Each visitor must exchange a glass of dawet for a kereweng – an earthenware coin. This procession symbolically expresses the hopes of the parents of a bride that their daughter and her husband can make their way in life.
Visitors and Jokowi's neighbors rammed the dawet booth as they wanted to get the special drinks. According to traditional Javanese belief, the more people that get the dawet during the ritual, the more blessings the couple will get during their marriage. (mos/ebf)
