The Return of ‘Mbok Sri,’ a celebration of the rice harvest

Thu, August 3, 2017 / 06:20 pm

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Rice stems, grown with organic fertilizer, are hung on bamboo poles. JP/Magnus Hendratmo
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Men carry a lesung (mortar), which women hit to create rhythms during the Gejog Lesung performance. JP/Magnus Hendratmo
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A man walks past the rice stems hung on bamboo poles. Delanggu is famous for its Rojo lele rice variety. JP/Magnus Hendratmo
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Several boys from the Sayuk Rukun Tibayan community in Klaten, Central Java, sit while waiting for their turn to perform the Tandur (to grow) dance. JP/Magnus Hendratmo
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Three boys laugh while shooing sparrows with “memedi sawah” (a scarecrow). JP/Magnus Hendratmo
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Two women get ready to perform Gejog Lesung by placing dried banana leaves on their heads. JP/Magnus Hendratmo
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Boys from the Hadroh Al Fatah troupe play tambourines. JP/Magnus Hendratmo
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The sound of rustling black rice gives a unique effect to the musical performance by the farmers during the Mbok Sri Mulih show. JP/Magnus Hendratmo
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Children perform a Tandur dance during the cultural festival. JP/Magnus Hendratmo
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A Pala Gumantung offering is placed in the field after being paraded around the village. JP/Magnus Hendratmo
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People of Delanggu in Klaten regency, Central Java, watch the performance during the Mbok Sri Mulih Festival. JP/Magnus Hendratmo
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Girls and boys perform the Saman dance from Aceh during the festival. JP/Magnus Hendratmo
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A local artist, Agus Bimo, after performing as a mud man to express himself while wallowing in the mud. JP/Magnus Hendratmo
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Lintang, a professional dancer, adopts her role as Ibu Pertiwi during the Mbok Sri Mulih performance while other dancers take roles as "memedi sawah" (scarecrows), a symbol of pest expulsion. JP/Magnus Hendratmo
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Lintang performs a dance symbolizing a paddy field that has been exposed to chemical fertilizers. JP/Magnus Hendratmo
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Four men play Bambu Gila (crazy bamboo), a mystical ritual usually performed on Indonesia’s Maluku Islands, where a group of strong men struggle to control a piece of bamboo, which moves uncontrollably as if it were possessed by a supernatural power. JP/Magnus Hendratmo
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Lintang performs Seni Jantur, a collaborative dance, using the paddy field as a stage to depict the fertility of Delanggu village, which comes from Mount Merapi and Si Gedang water springs. JP/Magnus Hendratmo
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Dancers perform Mbok Sri Mulih, which symbolizes the return of Dewi Sri, the goddess of the harvest, especially of rice, in Delanggu village. JP/Magnus Hendratmo

Delanggu in Klaten regency, Central Java, is famous for its “Rojo Lele” variety of rice. With a total 69 hectares of rice fields out of the district’s total of of 137,125 hectares, Delanggu has been dubbed a barn of the province.

However, in recent years, only 60 farmers have lived in the village and now most of them are in their old age.

This fact bothers Ekhsan Hartanto, one of the villagers in Delanggu.

He has worked with Gora Swara Nusantara Klaten artists to create a dance inspired by Dewi Sri, whom the Javanese believe is the goddess of rice, which was performed at the cultural event themed “Mbok Sri Mulih” (the return of goddess Sri).

Together they turned the paddy field into a stage with art installations made from bamboo and straw.

On July 22 and 23, 2017, they invited local dance troupes from the nearby regencies to take part in the event.

The surviving farmers hoped that by holding the event, people would be encouraged to help them farm organically without using chemical substances so that they could harmonize their lives with Mother Nature. [yan]