Arisarmu - All I wanted to do last saturday morning was have a nice weekend by watching an annual ritual of Merti Desa or Village Cleaning Parade in Tegalrejo Village, Salatiga and the existence of four Punakawan really enticed my attention.
As the venue is usually flocked by participants of the parade, so I decided not to bring a motorcycle like what I did in the previous year. So I asked my son to take me there. Therefore I could be more unrestricted to walk anywhere without having to search a parking space as well as I could follow the route of the parade on foot. It departed from in front of Tegalrejo Village Office to go around the village until lastly the parade would terminate in a field or its entertainment stage where the traditional dances such as Reog, Gambyong and Tayub would also be performed.
The parade was held from 09.00 am until nearly the midday
Merti Desa, a traditional Javanese of thanksgiving to the God, has been existed since a long time ago in Salatiga. The locals, especially in Tegalrejo village, have a strong desire to keep this tradition by doing cultural parade and performance.. They were dressed up in a various traditional outfits, including four women who imitated Punakawan.
Punakawan are the clown servants of Pandawa family in the epic story of Mahabharata who teach us about a philosophy of life. There are four of them:
Semar teaches us about the balance of life. When he was still in nirvana he was called Shanghyang Ismaya. He had two siblings; Sanghyang Antaga (Togog) and Sanghyang Manikmaya (Batara Guru). Then he descended from nirvana and lived in Karang Kedempel and had three foster sons, Gareng, Petruk and Bagong.
Gareng teaches us that disability can not stop us from being successful and happy life.
While Petruk teaches us of patience, and Bagong symbolizes of a rebellions againts tyranny.
The parade was held from 09.00 am until nearly the midday
Merti Desa, a traditional Javanese of thanksgiving to the God, has been existed since a long time ago in Salatiga. The locals, especially in Tegalrejo village, have a strong desire to keep this tradition by doing cultural parade and performance.. They were dressed up in a various traditional outfits, including four women who imitated Punakawan.
Punakawan are the clown servants of Pandawa family in the epic story of Mahabharata who teach us about a philosophy of life. There are four of them:
Semar teaches us about the balance of life. When he was still in nirvana he was called Shanghyang Ismaya. He had two siblings; Sanghyang Antaga (Togog) and Sanghyang Manikmaya (Batara Guru). Then he descended from nirvana and lived in Karang Kedempel and had three foster sons, Gareng, Petruk and Bagong.
Gareng teaches us that disability can not stop us from being successful and happy life.
While Petruk teaches us of patience, and Bagong symbolizes of a rebellions againts tyranny.