The marriage of these flour groom and bride is one of the series of Pesta Giling tradition.
26 Juni 2016 11:17
Brilio.net/en - Believe it or not, some people wed not only humans but also dolls. These Javanese dolls are made out of baking flour, and are still being treated as normal humans for their wedding party. The flour dolls wedding is one of the series of Pesta Giling (Rolling Party), an annual traditional event celebrated in Sragi, Pekalongan, Central Java. It is an event held to commemorate the producing season of a sugar factory in this City of Batik. The name of the factory is Sragi.
Sragi Sugar Factory is one of the heritage of Dutch colonization that was built in 1928. It is still operating today, although it is only active for 3-5 months per year. Sragi factory usually starts its production time in May and ends in August or October.
To start the production season, Pesta Giling is held as a tradition from the time of the ancestors. The purpose of the rolling party is to act as an offering for the continuity and success for the production process of Sragi Sugar Factory.
Until now, local people are still being enthusiast to welcome the event, and also consider it as the biggest entertaining annual event in town. No wonder many foreigner tourists also come to see and cover the cultural tradition of Pekalongan Regency.
One of the local residents, Aby, said that the yearly event is started by picking canes in the field, which then paraded together as the symbol of the starting of cane harvesting. It is also a sign that they are ready to produce the sugar.
The canes, as the main ingredient to make sugar, will be paraded with cultural attractions, such as barongan, genderuwo, and gamelan music. The parade will go around over one kilometer and will be followed by the people who make the event merrier. The parade will then go to a place for a night rest, where it will be welcomed by the factory managements and cultural elders for a prayer and other ceremonial events.
On the next day, the parade will be walked into the factory, added with the pengantin glepung couple, explained Aby to brilio.net.
Pengantin glepung or pengantin tepung (the flour wedding couple) is a couple of flour dolls that are made in the image of real people. They are even given names and are wearing wedding dress and a tux. The harvested canes and the couple will be then rolled as the symbol of the beginning of sugar producing.
In the night, the event gets merrier with entertainment for everyone. There are wayang (puppet show), bazaar, amusement for children and adults, and many games. The night is the peak event, and the roads are filled with a sea of humans in celebration mode.
Aby added, for the production season this year, Sragi Sugar Factory and the people that are involved in the party decided to give names of the groom by Abdul Jhalil and the bride Khotijah.
