"Nyiar Lumar" at the Galuh Sunda Palace
The tense days of the Reform Movement in early 1998 inspired a group of locals in Tatar Galuh, Ciamis, West Java, to hold the Nyiar Lumar ritual in Asta Gede, Kawali, the northern region of Ciamis.
The nyiar (searching for) lumar (a rotting wood fungus that glows at night) tradition symbolizes a search for a source of light in order to make the nation and the state safe, peaceful and prosperous.
On Saturday (19/11/2016) afternoon, the weather was sunny in Kawali. The soothing winds of the rainy season blew from the hills of Mt. Sawal, accompanying the traditional arts performances at the front yard of the Kawali district head office. Arts performances that afternoon included bebegigsukamantri, buta kararas, karinding nyengsol, tari topeng, degung klasik and lodaya winduraja. Thousands of locals enthusiastically watched the folk art performances from North Ciamis.
This was the beginning of the Nyiar Lumar ceremony, held in the ruins of the Sunda Galuh palace in Astana Gede Kawali, Ciamis regency. After the ceremonial event attended by the Ciamis regency and Tourism Ministry officials, there was a lalampahan, or a night walk from the district office to Astana Gede. The lalampahan parade was 1-kilometer long and was held at 9 p.m. Participants brought torches for the event.
The lalampahan parade was filled with traditional arts performance on 10 stages strategically located at certain spots. At midnight, a ruwatan prasasti and a tawasulan (mass prayer) was held at Astana Gede. The ritual ended on Sunday (20/11) at around 4 a.m. with a balakencrakan event, or eating nasi liwet (rice boiled in coconut milk and served with various side dishes) together with invitees and locals.
Ciamis regional secretary Asep Herdiat said the regency administration supported the biennial traditional ceremony. Apart from its tourism benefit, the event also informed attendees that a huge kingdom called the Galuh Sunda kingdom once existed in Kawali around the 14th century. The kingdom encompassed West Java and a portion of Central Java up to the Dieng Plateau.
Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles (1781-1826) made a huge contribution to the Sundanese people in West Java, as he was the person who rediscovered the Astana Gede Kawali. The 5-hectare ruins of the Galuh Sunda palace at the eastern slope of Mt. Sawal are believed by the locals in Tatar Galuh to be the origins of West Java. "There would be no West Java today if there was no Astana Gede," Kawali district head Hidayat Taufik said in his stories of the Sundanese people's history.
A meeting of artists
The Nyiar Lumar ceremony also functions as a meeting for artists from various regions. Many artists from East Java, Bali and West Java come to Kawali to take part in the event. In historical records, the Sunda Galuh kingdom was involved in the Battle of Bubat with the Majapahit kingdom in East Java.
"Our mission is that Nyiar Lumar will be an international event in 2018, with artists from Japan, the US and Australia taking part in future events," Dadang said.
There are currently 20 homestays for visitors in Kawali. There is no hotel in the region. Through the homestays, the Nyiar Lumar tradition can directly bring economic benefit to the local people. The local economy has boomed. This is evident from the mushrooming of T-shirt and souvenir sellers and food stalls. For guests wishing to stay at hotels, Ciamis, some 30 kilometers away from Kawali, has several on offer.
The creator of Nyiar Lumar, Ciamis artist Godi Suwarna, said that he had never expected the event would still exist today. A folk event was first held in the region in 1990, when Godi was an instructor at a theater group of the SMA Kawali public high school. Back then, the theater training was often held outdoors as there was no art building in the region.
Many had proposed that a specialized art building be established in Ciamis. "I was not interested in the proposals. From my experience, many art buildings end up being neglected. The programs are often unclear. Even if we had an art building, it won't necessarily mean that people from outside Ciamis would want to come here," Godi said.
Godi then proposed to use the Astana Gede as an outdoor spot for art performances.
Dadang Rohlik, the head of a local arts community, agreed to hold an arts event at the Astana Gede on May 20, 1998. That was the day the New Order government fell and an event license was not easy to obtain. "We were threatened. If the performance had any social criticism, all members of the organizing committee would be jailed," Godi said.
The art performance was attended by people who had just arrived home from a protest at the Gasibu Square in Bandung. The SMA Kawali high school principal was frightened as many of those who came had scary faces and were wearing headbands with the word "Reformasi".
Contemplation
In order to calm things down, Godi asked the protesters to walk around the rice field. After the tension was lowered, he was hoping that the art event could be held smoothly.
However, the invited poets were still angry afterward. "I was just filled with dread, as they said the event could not continue until morning. I then asked them to stay the night at Astana Gede. Instead of getting arrested alone in their homes, it would be better to be arrested together in Astana Gede," Godi reminisced. Some 20 people then stayed the night under the stars in Astana Gede.
In the morning, when they all were having gado-gado (mixed vegetables with peanut sauce) as breakfast, there was suddenly news on television of Suharto stepping down from the presidency. They spontaneously prayed together for the good of the state and the nation. "The terribly strong spiritual fort of the New Order regime had collapsed thanks to our prayers," the poets joked.
Various events were then planned for the night, and the Nyiar Lumar tradition was born. Nyiar Lumar means searching for light amid the dark situation of the nation back then. Historically, the ruins of the Sunda Galuh kingdom are closely linked to the Bubat battle. It was when the entire leadership of the Sunda kingdom lost their lives in a battle with Majapahit forces.
Afterward, little Wastu Kancana, who did not join the group in Bubat, emerged as the wisest king in the history of the Sunda kingdom. As the nation's politics get tenser nowadays, the Nyiar Lumar contemplation becomes relevant once more.
Through the prayers in Nyiar Lumar, the Tatar Galuh people hope that the nation will be safe and peaceful and that their leaders can bring the nation to a more prosperous future.
source: Dedi Muhtadi, KOMPAS
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| Buta Kararas Art perform the Niyar Lumar ritual in Asta Gede, Kawali district, Ciamis regency, West Java, on Nov. 19. The aim of this tradition is to look for light so that the life of the nation and the state is peaceful and prosperous. Astana Gede Kawali is a historic area that was once part of the Galuh Sunda kingdom in the 14th century. |
The nyiar (searching for) lumar (a rotting wood fungus that glows at night) tradition symbolizes a search for a source of light in order to make the nation and the state safe, peaceful and prosperous.
On Saturday (19/11/2016) afternoon, the weather was sunny in Kawali. The soothing winds of the rainy season blew from the hills of Mt. Sawal, accompanying the traditional arts performances at the front yard of the Kawali district head office. Arts performances that afternoon included bebegigsukamantri, buta kararas, karinding nyengsol, tari topeng, degung klasik and lodaya winduraja. Thousands of locals enthusiastically watched the folk art performances from North Ciamis.
This was the beginning of the Nyiar Lumar ceremony, held in the ruins of the Sunda Galuh palace in Astana Gede Kawali, Ciamis regency. After the ceremonial event attended by the Ciamis regency and Tourism Ministry officials, there was a lalampahan, or a night walk from the district office to Astana Gede. The lalampahan parade was 1-kilometer long and was held at 9 p.m. Participants brought torches for the event.
The lalampahan parade was filled with traditional arts performance on 10 stages strategically located at certain spots. At midnight, a ruwatan prasasti and a tawasulan (mass prayer) was held at Astana Gede. The ritual ended on Sunday (20/11) at around 4 a.m. with a balakencrakan event, or eating nasi liwet (rice boiled in coconut milk and served with various side dishes) together with invitees and locals.
Ciamis regional secretary Asep Herdiat said the regency administration supported the biennial traditional ceremony. Apart from its tourism benefit, the event also informed attendees that a huge kingdom called the Galuh Sunda kingdom once existed in Kawali around the 14th century. The kingdom encompassed West Java and a portion of Central Java up to the Dieng Plateau.
Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles (1781-1826) made a huge contribution to the Sundanese people in West Java, as he was the person who rediscovered the Astana Gede Kawali. The 5-hectare ruins of the Galuh Sunda palace at the eastern slope of Mt. Sawal are believed by the locals in Tatar Galuh to be the origins of West Java. "There would be no West Java today if there was no Astana Gede," Kawali district head Hidayat Taufik said in his stories of the Sundanese people's history.
A meeting of artists
The Nyiar Lumar ceremony also functions as a meeting for artists from various regions. Many artists from East Java, Bali and West Java come to Kawali to take part in the event. In historical records, the Sunda Galuh kingdom was involved in the Battle of Bubat with the Majapahit kingdom in East Java.
"Our mission is that Nyiar Lumar will be an international event in 2018, with artists from Japan, the US and Australia taking part in future events," Dadang said.
There are currently 20 homestays for visitors in Kawali. There is no hotel in the region. Through the homestays, the Nyiar Lumar tradition can directly bring economic benefit to the local people. The local economy has boomed. This is evident from the mushrooming of T-shirt and souvenir sellers and food stalls. For guests wishing to stay at hotels, Ciamis, some 30 kilometers away from Kawali, has several on offer.
The creator of Nyiar Lumar, Ciamis artist Godi Suwarna, said that he had never expected the event would still exist today. A folk event was first held in the region in 1990, when Godi was an instructor at a theater group of the SMA Kawali public high school. Back then, the theater training was often held outdoors as there was no art building in the region.
Many had proposed that a specialized art building be established in Ciamis. "I was not interested in the proposals. From my experience, many art buildings end up being neglected. The programs are often unclear. Even if we had an art building, it won't necessarily mean that people from outside Ciamis would want to come here," Godi said.
Godi then proposed to use the Astana Gede as an outdoor spot for art performances.
Dadang Rohlik, the head of a local arts community, agreed to hold an arts event at the Astana Gede on May 20, 1998. That was the day the New Order government fell and an event license was not easy to obtain. "We were threatened. If the performance had any social criticism, all members of the organizing committee would be jailed," Godi said.
The art performance was attended by people who had just arrived home from a protest at the Gasibu Square in Bandung. The SMA Kawali high school principal was frightened as many of those who came had scary faces and were wearing headbands with the word "Reformasi".
Contemplation
In order to calm things down, Godi asked the protesters to walk around the rice field. After the tension was lowered, he was hoping that the art event could be held smoothly.
However, the invited poets were still angry afterward. "I was just filled with dread, as they said the event could not continue until morning. I then asked them to stay the night at Astana Gede. Instead of getting arrested alone in their homes, it would be better to be arrested together in Astana Gede," Godi reminisced. Some 20 people then stayed the night under the stars in Astana Gede.
In the morning, when they all were having gado-gado (mixed vegetables with peanut sauce) as breakfast, there was suddenly news on television of Suharto stepping down from the presidency. They spontaneously prayed together for the good of the state and the nation. "The terribly strong spiritual fort of the New Order regime had collapsed thanks to our prayers," the poets joked.
Various events were then planned for the night, and the Nyiar Lumar tradition was born. Nyiar Lumar means searching for light amid the dark situation of the nation back then. Historically, the ruins of the Sunda Galuh kingdom are closely linked to the Bubat battle. It was when the entire leadership of the Sunda kingdom lost their lives in a battle with Majapahit forces.
Afterward, little Wastu Kancana, who did not join the group in Bubat, emerged as the wisest king in the history of the Sunda kingdom. As the nation's politics get tenser nowadays, the Nyiar Lumar contemplation becomes relevant once more.
Through the prayers in Nyiar Lumar, the Tatar Galuh people hope that the nation will be safe and peaceful and that their leaders can bring the nation to a more prosperous future.
source: Dedi Muhtadi, KOMPAS
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