FASCINATION AND MYSTERY OF THE COURTS

Fascination and Mystery of the Courts

The region of Central Java has been since the first centuries A.D., the cradle of ancient kingdoms and refined Courts. Hindu and Buddhist dynasties have followed each other, maintaining their splendour in every field. The evidence of monuments of that period are the hundreds of temples and numberless stone ruins, as tangible signs of the existence of ancient civilizations.

At the end of the XVI century, the Moslem Kingdom of Mataram had consolidated its dominion over Central and Eastern Java, and established its capital city at Kar­tasura; after a period of stability, the kingdom was torn by a series of struggles and events that involved not only rival families but also the Dutch and the Madurese.

A first sign of decline of the old kingdom took place in 1680 when the old capital was abandoned and the new one built near the Solo River, called Surakarta.

It was the Dutch who imposed their peace in 1755 with the Treaty of Giyanti, asserting their influence over Sultan Pakubuwono III of Surakarta. The weak conduct of the Sultan aroused the dissidence of two members of the royal family, Mangkubumi and Raden Said. The first, after a conflict of nine years, obtained half of the kingdom and founded the city of Yogyakarta, taking the title of Hamengku Buwono 1; the second ended his hostility and founded a new line of the nobility of Solo by taking the title of Mangkunegara 1, built his own palace and court.

The Courts of Yogyakarta and Solo became centres of art and culture; in fact, since the beginning of the nineteenth century the Sultans having been deprived of real political power, which was wielded by the Dutch, asserted their prestige as patrons and continuators of the most refined cultural heritage, displaying sumptu­ously magnificent ceremonies in celebration of anni­versaries and events, with dances, processions, music and performances. This tendency of the sovereigns to increasingly emphasize the arts, has kept alive ancient traditions and has placed the Courts at the centre of social and religious life.

Yogyakarta and Surakarta (Solo) concentrate not only the heritage of the monuments of classical in­heritance but also the most refined and sophisticated cul­tural and artistic attractions; royal palaces, batik factories where original artists paint on extraordinary fabrics, bird markets, fruit markets, merchandise and wares of all kinds are found among the old ruins of royal palaces.

Both cities, as well as the nearby villages still main­tain a surrealistic and mysterious surrounding, where simple and cordial people even today hand down from father to son, religious, familial and social traditions based on respect of others, on codes of etiquettes and cult of the person of the Sultan.

The centre and heart of the life of the Javanese is the Kraton, the palace of the Sultan, considered accord­ing to ancient cosmological beliefs, as the navel of the Universe.

It represents not only the civil capital of the king­dom but also a mystical centre of the ideal cosmos. The ceremonial of the Kraton and its Court scans the time of the vital cycle and devotes itself to keeping the rites and festivities in the most rigorous respect of the Java­nese calendar.

In Jogjakarta the famous festivity of Sekaten celebrates the anniversary of the death of Mohammed; a modern re-edition of the harvest rites of the As­waweddaha in the time of Majapahit. For six con­secutive days gamelan concerts are played in the court­yard of the Great Mosque, with musical instruments brought over from the palace and considered to be endowed with magical powers.

The ceremony ends with a great procession during, which foods of all kinds are brought from the Kraton to the mosque; rice, spices, eggs, vegetables, diecorated in the form of a mountain, symbol of fertility of man and woman.

A similar procession takes place in Solo, where gifts and foods from the Kraton Kasunanan are brought in procession through the streets of the city. Also dances hold an important role in the ceremonial life of the courts: the most important is the Bedoyo Ketawan­g which is performed once a year in Surakarta to cele­brate the anniversary of the incoronation of the Sultan. This sacred dance was instituted by Sultan Agung and represents the courtship between Prince Senopat, founder of the Mataram Dynasty and the goddess of the South Sea, Ratu Kidul.

The dance is performed by nine girls dressed in splendid bridal clothes, who are allowed to rehearse only 35 days before the event. Years ago such a Liance could only take place at the palace and it was neces­sary that the dancers were virgins and members of the aristocracy.

Another celebrated court dance is the 'serimpi' performed in olden times by princesses and girls belonging to royal families; it represents a duel between young Amazons armed with daggers, bows and arrows; their movements are graceful, slow and simultaneous.

The tradition of dance, in spite of some loss of interest in the last years, in kept alive by the Court schools and state Academies that in Jogjakarta and Solo still hold considerable importance.

The coming of the Republic has changed many things, with the doing away of ancient privileges the sacred role of the Sultan. As a reward for the support given by the Sovereign of Jogjakarta to the struggle for independence, he still maintains special privileges and the city enjoys a special statute.