Eight people carrying two huge piles (gunungan) of kue keranjang were recently seen running along Jl. Urip Sumoharjo to reach Tien Kok Sie Chinese Temple in Pasar Gede in Surakarta (Solo), Central Java.
People scrambled to grab sweet sticky-rice cakes from the piles as the litter bearers ran by, eventually overwhelming the men.
Dozens more then descended on the gunungan, the cakes now up for grabs.
The play-struggle was one just one of the attractions of the Grebeg Sudiro, an annual parade held in the Pecinan (Chinatown) district of Sudiroprajan sub-district in Solo.
Soon, the crowds that packed the road leading to the temple were showered with the same snacks, tossed down by members of the event’s organizing committee from the second floor of the Pasar Gede traditional market.
Tussle: People grab rice cakes from a gunungan as part of the Grebeg Sudiro parade held in advance of Chinese New Year in Surakarta, Central Java.
In total, more than 4,000 cakes were distributed.
A member of the Chinese Indonesian community in Solo, Sumartono Hadinoto, said that the Grebeg Sudiro was held to promote ethnic and religious harmony in the neighborhood and the greater city.
“This program manifests Chinese and Javanese acculturation, even though other ethnic groups in the city are also well assimilated,” he said.
The Grebeg Sudiro parade featured traditional Chinese and Javanese performers: Dragons and lion dancers appeared along with Javanese Reog Ponorogo lion mask dancers, while Chinese Sun Go Kong monkey dancers were accompanied Javanese peacock dancers.
“Actually, the two traditional cultures share some similar aspects,” Sumartono said. “The lion dance and Reog Ponorogo, for instance, have the same lion appearance.”
The cultural mix did not stop with dance. The gunungan carried in the initial precession took traditional shapes — that of the Tien Kok Sie Temple and of the Sanggabuwana Tower of Surakarta Palace, the center of Javanese culture in Solo.
There were also other gunungan bearing symbols of the yin and yang, representing female and male energy in the world.
Sumartono continued. “The gunungan contain sticky kue keranjang, signifying a hope that harmonious relations among residents will grow even closer, sticking like these traditional cakes.”
Chinese and Javanese have been mixing for centuries in Sudiroprajan, he adds. “Mixed marriages between the ethnic groups are commonly called ampyang couples.”
The name comes from a traditional Solonese snack made with ampyang, or Javanese palm sugar, and nuts from China. “When they are mixed to produce ampyang, the snack tastes sweet, as is diversity. Pluralism is beautiful if we can show the right attitude toward it.”
Residents of Sudiroprajan have lived in multi-ethnic, multi-cultural or multi-religious families for generations, Sumartono said. “Up until the present, they have coexisted peacefully without facing any problems.”
Balong, a bustling commercial district of Sudiroprajan located to the east of Pasar Gede, is full of narrow alleyways and small houses.
The Sudiroprajan sub-district head, Dalima, jokes about the ethic mix of the neighborhood. “Some people talk about ‘hitachi’ here, which is just a funny acronym. Hitachi means hitam tapi cina [dark-skinned but Chinese], resulting from mixed or ampyang marriages. But in reality, this constitutes beauty and an embodiment of unity and integrity in Sudiroprajan.”
Trotting: Reog Ponorogo Javanese lion mask dancers were also part of the multi-cultural mix.
According to Dalima, the Grebeg Sudiro has been held for the last seven years and has not lost its appeal: Thousands continue to assemble in Pecinan for the annual event.
While the sub-district sponsored the first Grebeg Sudiro, various organizations have since gotten on the bandwagon, including the city administration, which made it an annual event on the tourist calendar in the run up to Chinese New Year.
Surakarta Mayor FX Hadi “Rudy” Rudyatmo said a diverse cultural mix had become a hallmark of Sudiroprajan. “This program is intended to preserve the cultural heritage now still existing in Sudiroprajan.”
The mayor says that the parade might boost tourism, enticing people to visit Solo as a cultural city.
The administration is currently concentrating on developing the tourist potential of undiscovered neighborhoods and sub-districts in the city.
“If the potential sections of the city can come to the fore with their features like the event in Sudiroprajan, there will be more attractions to serve as a magnet for visitors to Surakarta, which can further promote our tourism sector,” Rudy said.
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