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raditional dances are forms of cultural expression that imbue traditional values in society and tell of the roots of a people and the past glory of the land. Therefore, it is not surprising that traditional dances are often considered national treasures that should be preserved.

However, several officials in the Palembang administration in South Sumatra, once home to the ancient Buddhist kingdom of Sriwijaya, see the Gending Sriwijaya dance, a traditional dance that has served as an icon of the city, as out of place in the present time.

In a move to streamline the “city’s culture,” the administration is mulling replacing the dance with something more in line with Islam, the religion adhered to by the majority of people in the city.

Sudirman Teguh, the head of Palembang Culture Agency, said the Buddhist-based Gending Sriwijaya Dance should be scrapped.

“It [Gending Sriwijaya] is not our culture. The movements, the dancer’s outfits and the music are identical to the teachings of Hinduism and Buddhism,” Sudirman said in a statement last week.

Today’s Palembang was where the old Sriwijaya Kingdom was seated. Established in the 7th century, the kingdom rose as one of the hegemons of Southeast Asia during its golden era. The kingdom traded with Chinese and Indian empires as well as Islamic caliphates from the Middle East.

Sriwijaya started to collapse in the 12th century. Later, the region came under the rule of an Islamic kingdom before the emergence of the modern Indonesian nation state.

Like in modern times, Gending Sriwijaya was used to welcome notable guests during the era of the kingdom.

After spurring controversy with his statement advocating the abolition of the dance, Sudirman denied on Sunday that the Palembang administration planned to abolish the dance.

Sudirman said the city had three traditional dances, all of which dated back to the Sriwijaya era. Therefore, it wanted to create a dance that represented Palembang Darussalam, the Islamic kingdom that appeared later after Sriwijaya.

“Palembang does not intend to scrap the Gending Sriwijaya, Tanggai and Tepak Keraton dances,” he told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

However, despite his assurance that the “un-Islamic” Gending Sriwijaya and the two other Sriwijaya-inspired dances would not be banned in Palembang, Sudirman said the administration was open to feedback on the subject.

Yai Ibeck, a local cultural observer, supports the administration, saying that Gending Sriwijaya was no longer relevant in the Muslim-majority Palembang. “We want to create an Islamic-based traditional dance,”
Yai said.

Asvi Warman Adam, a cultural observer and historian from the Indonesian Science Institute (LIPI), said replacing the dance with a more “Islamic” one was baseless given the significance of Sriwijaya Kingdom in Indonesia’s history. Furthermore, he noted that Indonesia was not an Islamic state.

“I do not see a strong reason for it,” Asvi told the Post. He said referring to Gending Sriwijaya as something alien to Palembang’s culture was “a-historical.”

“Sriwijaya was a dominant empire along with Majapahit,” he said.

Agus Sutikno, a South Sumatra councillor, expressed his strong objection to the possible move from the administration, saying that Gending Sriwijaya and the other two dances had been embedded in the hearts of the Palembang people for years.