Living in peace and harmony

Wed, August 16, 2017 / 01:56 pm

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A man plays a tambourine to accompany the Gedruk Merapik dance during the 2017 Asian Youth Day at Bunder village, Jatinom district, Klaten regency, Central Java. JP/ Magnus Hendratmo
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Two groups of dancers from Biyung Bibi and Udan Kencana, respectively, join the parade of the Srawung Asih performance. JP/ Magnus Hendratmo
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Three boys run to fly a kite at Bunder village. The kites are made of bamboo with creative shapes and colors. People of Bunder mostly work as a bamboo weavers producing cages. JP/ Magnus Hendratmo
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Some spiritual items for the Eucharist mass are laid on a table. These items are made of bamboo by local craftspeople. JP/ Magnus Hendratmo
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A man makes bamboo torches for the Eucharistic mass. JP/ Magnus Hendratmo
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This bamboo cross with a rattan corpus is the creation of Surowo, a contemporary artist. JP/ Magnus Hendratmo
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Children perform the Kuda Lumping dance during the 2017 Asian Youth Dance. JP/ Magnus Hendratmo
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A Korean participant in the 2017 Asian Youth Day, holding her country’s flag, has her photo taken during the Srawung Asih performance. JP/ Magnus Hendratmo
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Sister Ludwina Hartati carries a bamboo cross for the Santa Maria Assumpta in the Klaten chapel. JP/ Magnus Hendratmo
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A man carries a bamboo cross with a straw corpus, created by Mbah [grandfather] Sunar. JP/ Magnus Hendratmo
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Children and a man perform the Kuda Lumping dance. The kuda (horse) is made of banana stalks. JP/ Magnus Hendratmo
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The opening Ruh Panji dance is performed by Magnum Arkan Nala in Bunder village. JP/ Magnus Hendratmo
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Participants of the 2017 Asian Youth Day perform a dance. JP/ Magnus Hendratmo
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The Norontoko shadow puppet story is played by a Maria Assumpta high school student, Y. Axel Agung Wicaksono. JP/ Magnus Hendratmo
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A boy watches the shadow puppet show featuring the Norontoko story. JP/ Magnus Hendratmo
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Four women play the gejok lesung, a rice mortar that doubles as a musical instrument during the paddy harvest, accompanied by the karawitan (a Javanese orchestral instrument). JP/ Magnus Hendratmo
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A man shows a klarah puppet made from waste materials by young artist Suksma. The puppet, which is taken after the character of Petruk, was created from a used bottle. JP/ Magnus Hendratmo

Life is a blessing from God. The people of Bunder village in Jatianom district, Klaten Regency, Central Java, use rainwater to help meet their needs. They catch rain drops in big buckets. The rainwater is then used to water plants and feed animals.

The Kandang Udan (which literally means rain catcher) community manages the rainwater in the village on the slope of Mount Merapi.

They make bamboo woven cages for their chicken. They avoid sand mining, because that activity harms the fertility of the soil.

During the 2017 Asian Youth Day gathering, when Catholic Youth from across the continent gathered in Yogyakarta, the village of Bunder was chosen to accommodate around 60 guests from Bangladesh, Nepal, Laos, South Korea, Pakistan, Thailand, Singapore and host country Indonesia from July 30 to Aug. 3.

The Kandang Udan community welcomed the participants by staging the Srawung Asih performance, which depicted how people should live in harmony and religious tolerance.

Pastor Antonius Budi Wihandono led a Eucharist mass for around 3,000 participants, prior to the performance. In his sermon, Budi noted that Asia was the most populous continent as well as very multicultural, multi-religious and poor. The pluralism of Asia had driven young Catholics within the continent to promote peace and harmony.

The Srawung Asih performance, which contains local culture, was expected to enthuse the young people about religious tolerance and teach them that life should be about giving, just like rain drops. [yan]