Hundreds join Surakarta's ‘Babad Kepatihan’ parade
Held for the third time since 2011, this time carrying a theme called Pitonan, the Babad Kepatihan parade, or kirab, was joined by hundreds of participants from all levels of society in Surakarta.
Local arts and cultures were being performed as well, such as reog (a traditional Indonesian masked dance), barongsai (Chinese dragon dance), liong (another type of Chinese dragon dance), red batik, traditional Javanese gamelan renteng music, gunungan buah pasar (mountain of market fruits) and prajurit (soldiers).
The gunungan buah pasar, which consists of about 350 kilograms of different type of fruits, was gone within minutes by the jostling crowd while being paraded.
Opened by Mayor of Surakarta, FX Hadi Rudyatmo, the parade began at 2 p.m. starting from the Kepatihan Wetan district office and ending at the Bundaran Air Mancur Gladag.
"This kirab is intended to celebrate the birth of the gamelan Kepatihan notation that was created by Empu (master craftsman) Warsodiningrat during the reign of Surakarta Sultan Paku Buwono X," head of Kepatihan Wetan district office Tuti Orbawati told The Jakarta Post Travel.
She added that many forms of art performances were showcased to further strengthen the bond between local residents.
Other than that, the kirab was also held as an appreciation of a woman being pregnant. That is why all local women who were seven months pregnant were being paraded as well.
"This parade is also a way to conserve our local culture and further popularize Surakarta as a city of culture," said Tuti.
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