Culture & Traditions of Yogyakarta

In the past, cultural heritage in Yogya are the magnificent temples, the ruins of palaces and monasteries, the various kinds of traditions cultural events, traditional folk performing arts, traditional ritual ceremonies, customs, traditional handcrafts, traditional architecture and other traditional activities. Most of them mentioned still exist in the province, which is now part and parcel of the locals' lives. The richness in culture made Yogya to be the cradle of the Javanese culture, as known by others.

One of the main cultures of Yogya is the Wayang Kulit, which are leather puppets used for shadow plays. Wayang means theatre, while Kulit means skin, and it refers to the construction of the puppets that are carefully chiseled with very fine tools and supported with carefully shaped buffalo horn handles and control rods.

The showing of Wayang Kulit will always be accompanied by the traditional sound of Gamelan. Gamelan is a musical ensemble featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. Sometimes a vocalist is included.

The melodious rhythm of the Gamelan in harmony with the voice of the female singers will not let you fall asleep. The story presented by the Dalang as the puppeteer as well as the storyteller will bring you into being one of the characters in the story. You will soon learn the greatness of Javanese culture in the past.

Making Batik is also another strong culture in Yogya. Batik is a cloth that traditionally uses a manual wax-resist dyeing technique. Most of this Batik designs also make use of motifs, an element of a pattern, an image or part of it, or a theme. A motif may be repeated in a design or composition, often many times, or may just occur once in a work.

Yogya is known for the origins of Javanese Kraton Batik (Javanese Court Batik). It is the oldest batik tradition known to Java. This type of Batik has earthy color tones such as black, brown, and dark yellow (sogan), sometimes against a white background. The motifs of traditional court Batik have symbolic meanings. Some designs are restricted: larger motifs can only be worn by royalty; and certain motifs are not suitable for women, or for specific occasions.

A traditional ceremony famous in Yogya is the Sekaten. It kindles the spirit of struggle and has developed religious values in shaping noble and moral character of the nation and has a clear flow history. It has become one of the official ceremony Palace Cuisine, Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat and is held each year in order commemorate the birth of Prophet Muhammad SAW.

Another event is the Grebegan. Every 1st Syawal, the Palace of Yogyakarta out one “Gunungan” called Gunungan Jaler. Gunungan consists of a series of vegetables, fruits and snacks are arranged in such a way or a cone-shaped mountain. Gunungan is a charity king to his people. Therefore, people are always scrambling to get a part of the mountains which is believed to have good luck.

This ceremony expresses praise and gratefulness to God by the Muslims after having completed their fasting duty in the sacred month of Ramadhan. At 11.00 a.m. the ceremony begins with a parade of Kraton guards in their colorful uniforms. Troops led by their commander in chief. They march from Siti Hinggil through the Pagelaran to the Southern square and then wait for the Gunugan procession. This ceremony is held at Alun-alun Utara Yogyakarta.

Another main traditional event is the Labuhan. This ceremony is a ritual offering meant to preserve a long sacred relation between the Sultan of Yogya as the direct descendant of the first ruler of the second Mataram Kingdom. By tradition, this event is always held one day after the Sultan coronation. The ritual is conducted in accordance with the long years of inherited tradition. Usually, the ceremony is attended by a lot of people, most whom want to get blessing from the Creator of the world.

A famous play in Yogya will be the Ramayana ballet, a dance-drama performed in a marvelous visualization depicting the legendary epos in Javanese culture, Ramayana. This performance is able to unite various Javanese arts aspects such as dance, drama and music on one stage to present the Ramayana story, a legendary epos written by Walmiki in Sanskrit language. They do not only prepare the dance and music, but also the lighting that is set in such a way able to describe certain events in that story. The make-up of the dancers does not only make them beautiful but it is capable of describing the characters they perform so that spectators easily know the characters even though there is no dialog.

This popular dramatic performance is organized in Prambanan, a magnificent outdoor arena location with the floodlit Shiva temple as backdrop.

Besides the many available cultural festivals and performances, Yogyakarta is also a haven for underground art. It is home to many independent filmmaking communities, independent musicians, performance artists, and visual artists.

Yogyakarta is the home to the biggest art institution in Indonesia, the Indonesia Institute of the Arts (ISI). It teaches visual, performing, and media arts in both traditional Indonesian and modern international styles.

Contemporary art has grown rapidly in the soil of Yogya's beautiful culture. The ISI is an important centre of arts, mainly modern and contemporary art in Indonesia. Many excellent new galleries and art houses have opened since 1997, which will probably take up days if one wants to check it all out.

The premier venue for contemporary art would be the Cemeti Art House (CAH). The gallery has actively exhibited and promoted the work of Indonesian and international visual artists for many years and is a must visit site. Every year, CAH hosts eleven exhibitions. The selections of artists and works which can be displayed are determined by the founding directors themselves. The constantly strive to deal with a multitude of paradoxes such as local-global, traditional-modern; art-non art, individual-collective, natural-manufactured, crafted-industrial, conventional-innovative, thus producing interestingly curated exhibitions.

Another gallery highly rated in Yogya is the Kedai Kebun Gallery & Cafe. It is located in the southern part of Yogya. Established in 1997, this place provides an intimate and friendly atmosphere in which to eat delicious home cooking, view art exhibitions and performances or just meet friends. Many locals and artists tend to gather here to hang out, so one can expect an interesting mix of people. Kedai Kebun holds numerous art-related activities throughout the year, such as fine arts exhibitions, theatre and music performances, short story and poetry readings, discussions and workshops.

The final tradition I would like to mention about Yogya, is their interest and passion about silver. In 1930, the wife of the Governor of Yogyakarta took an interest in the revival of the art of the silversmith industry. Although this remarkable lady departed Java when her husband came to the end of his posting, the enthusiasm gained momentum. Local silversmiths now created the most beautiful artifacts for the local Dutch population as well as the American tourists. After Indonesia gained its independence in 1949, the Yogya silver trade flourished and continued well into the 1960’s. Since virtually all the silverware was purchased by foreigners, few examples remain in Indonesia.

Well that sums up the beauty of the cultures and traditions of Yogyakarta. The richness in variations are that this city has in stored is one of the many aspects that make Yogya a city of endless wonder and fascination.