VIVAnews - In the spirit of welcoming Chinese New Year, around 4000 Chinese sticky cakes were fought over in front of Solo’s traditional market, Pasar Gede. The “fight” was one of the main attractions at Grebeg Sudiro, which is part of the New Year celebration.
The event was held as a form and symbol of acculturation and pluralism between the Chinese-Indonesian and the natives.
The Head of Grebeg Sudiro Committee, Sarjono Lelono Putro, said the event has been annually conducted since three years ago. Grebeg Sudiro is also held to celebrate the existence of Sudiroprajan, a chinese village which is located next to Pasar Gede.
“Most of the villagers are of Chinese descendants, but they have been blending in with the natives,” Putro told VIVAnews in Solo on Sunday, February 7. “That’s why we hold this event together”.
One of the pluralism symbols at Grebeg Sudiro is the Chinese sticky cakes.
“It’s like the gunungan grebeg that is usually held by the Palace, where there are two piles, the male pile and the female pile. This is a symbol of acculturation between Javanese and Chinese culture,” he said.
Another acculturation form is the participation of various Javanese cultural arts in the carnival such as reog, topeng ireng, soreng, jathilan and Solo’s batik in addition to barongsai dances, liong and Chinese lanterns. “A traditional art from the foot of Mount Merbau also joined the carnival,” he said.
There are about 1300 participants in the carnival, which consist of 35 art groups. Both participants and visitors looked excited waiting for the piles of cake and dumplings to be “fought” over. The dumpling pile, which was just put 10 meters away from the start line, was immediately finished off by the people.
After being paraded for 3 kilometers around the village, two piles of sticky cakes, which are three levels-high, were also invaded by the masses.
In just minutes, the 4000 cakes were completely gone. People were pushing each other away in order to get the cakes.
According to the Chinese-Indonesian member of Surakarta People Association (PMS), Sumartono Hadinoto, the distribution of the sticky cakes has no certain meaning.
“It’s only to welcome Chinese New Year. We want to celebrate it together and create a plural and harmonious life,” he said.
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Coverage by: Fajar Sodiq | Solo
Translated by: Nataya Ermanti
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