R

esidents of Surakarta and Semarang in Central Java enjoyed this year’s Chinese New Year with festive celebrations.

In Surakarta, despite being celebrated without fireworks, thousands of people gathered from Jl. Jend. Sudirman to Pasar Gede, the center of the town’s celebration on Thursday evening.

Some 5,000 red paper lanterns, neon boxes emblazoned with 12 Chinese zodiac signs and paper lanterns featuring Javanese puppet characters adorned the area.

Residents of various backgrounds including tourists reveled in the celebrations with traditional and modern performances. Traditional dragon and lion dances as well as a drum parade added to the merriness to mark the start of the Lunar New Year, locally known as Imlek.

The city also held Solo Imlek Fair at Vastenburg Fort where visitors enjoyed various traditional cuisines.

Tri Dharma congregation members — comprising Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism — prayed and performed rituals at the Tien Kok Sie temple on Thursday. The worshippers joined the statue cleaning rituals in the temple, which is said to cleanse the soul from wicked behavior.

“Hopefully, in the coming year people will be more virtuous,” temple official Tek Giyanto said.

Local figure Sumartono Hadinoto said this year’s Chinese lunar calendar, the year of the earth dog, had deep philosophical meaning.

“Dogs are loyal and hard workers, meaning this year we are expected to fully commit to our promises and also be swift in taking action,” he said.

Meanwhile in Semarang, thousands of people flocked to the Sam Poo Kong temple, the oldest Chinese temple in the city on Friday.

Visitors prayed at the temple and joined in the New Year’s festivity marked with various performances held in the temple complex.