Slametan

Last updated February 22, 2019

The slametan (or selametan, slamatan, and selamatan) is the communal feast from Java, symbolizing the social unity of those participating in it. Clifford Geertz considered it the core ritual in Javanese religion, in particular the abangan variant.^[1] The feast is common among the closely related Javanese, Sundanese and Madurese people.

A banquet is a large meal or feast, complete with main courses and desserts, often served with ad libitum alcoholic beverages, such as wine or beer. A banquet usually serves a purpose such as a charitable gathering, a ceremony, or a celebration, and is often preceded or followed by speeches in honor of someone.

Java is an island of Indonesia, bordered by the Indian Ocean on the south and the Java Sea on the north. With a population of over 141 million or 145 million, Java is the home to 56.7 percent of the Indonesian population and is the world's most populous island. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is located on its northwestern coast. Much of Indonesian history took place on Java. It was the center of powerful Hindu-Buddhist empires, the Islamic sultanates, and the core of the colonial Dutch East Indies. Java was also the center of the Indonesian struggle for independence during the 1930s and 1940s. Java dominates Indonesia politically, economically and culturally. Four of Indonesia's eight UNESCO world heritage sites are located in Java: Ujung Kulon National Park, Borobudur Temple, Prambanan Temple, and Sangiran Early Man Site.

Clifford James Geertz was an American anthropologist who is remembered mostly for his strong support for and influence on the practice of symbolic anthropology, and who was considered "for three decades...the single most influential cultural anthropologist in the United States." He served until his death as professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton.

Birth, aka parturition, is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the fetus at a developmental stage when it is ready to feed and breathe. In some species the offspring is precocial and can move around almost immediately after birth but in others it is altricial and completely dependent on parenting. In marsupials, the fetus is born at a very immature stage after a short gestational period and develops further in its mother's womb's pouch.

Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a socially or ritually recognised union between spouses that establishes rights and obligations between those spouses, as well as between them and any resulting biological or adopted children and affinity. The definition of marriage varies around the world not only between cultures and between religions, but also throughout the history of any given culture and religion, evolving to both expand and constrict in who and what is encompassed, but typically it is principally an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually sexual, are acknowledged or sanctioned. In some cultures, marriage is recommended or considered to be compulsory before pursuing any sexual activity. When defined broadly, marriage is considered a cultural universal. A marriage ceremony is known as a wedding.

Death is the permanent cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include aging, predation, malnutrition, disease, suicide, homicide, starvation, dehydration, and accidents or major trauma resulting in terminal injury. In most cases, bodies of living organisms begin to decompose shortly after death.

Those relating to the crises of life: birth, circumcision, marriage, and death
Those associated with events of the Islamic calendar
The bersih désa ("cleaning of the village"), concerned with the social integration of the village
Those held irregularly depending on unusual occurrences: departing for a long trip, moving residence, changing personal names, illness, sorcery, and so on

Male circumcision is the removal of the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common procedure, the foreskin is opened, adhesions are removed, and the foreskin is separated from the glans. After that, a circumcision device may be placed and then the foreskin is cut off. Topical or locally injected anesthesia is sometimes used to reduce pain and physiologic stress. For adults and children, general anesthesia is an option, and the procedure may be performed without a specialized circumcision device. The procedure is most often an elective surgery performed on babies and children for religious or cultural reasons. In other cases it may be done as a treatment for certain medical conditions or for preventative reasons. Medically it is a treatment option for problematic cases of phimosis, balanoposthitis that does not resolve with other treatments, and chronic urinary tract infections (UTIs). It is contraindicated in cases of certain genital structure abnormalities or poor general health.

The Islamic, Muslim, or Hijri calendar is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to determine the proper days of Islamic holidays and rituals, such as the annual period of fasting and the proper time for the pilgrimage to Mecca. The civil calendar of almost all countries where the religion is predominantly Muslim is the Gregorian calendar. Notable exceptions to this rule are Iran and Afghanistan, whch use the Solar Hijri calendar. Rents, wages and similar regular commitments are generally paid by the civil calendar.

The ceremony takes its name from the Javanese word slamet, from Arabic: salam , which refers to a peaceful state of equanimity, in which nothing will happen. This is what the host intends for both himself and his guests, by experiencing the egalitarian structure of the slametan and the petitions of supernatural protection from spirits.^[3]

Javanese is the language of the Javanese people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, in Indonesia. There are also pockets of Javanese speakers on the northern coast of western Java. It is the native language of more than 98 million people.

In Geertz's fieldwork in Mojokuto in the 1950s, he found that costs of slametans varied from 3 to 5,000 Indonesian rupiahs, depending on the type and the relative wealth of the host.

The rupiah (Rp) is the official currency of Indonesia. Issued and controlled by the Bank of Indonesia, the ISO 4217 currency code for the Indonesian rupiah is IDR. The name "Rupiah" is derived from the Indian word rupiya (रुपीया), ultimately from Sanskrit rupyakam. Informally, Indonesians also use the word "perak" in referring to rupiah. The rupiah is subdivided into 100 sen, although inflation has rendered all coins and banknotes denominated in sen obsolete.

Procedure

Slametans are generally held in the evening, after evening prayer is finished. The date is determined either by the occurrence it is celebrating (for births and deaths, for example), or on auspicious days in the Javanese calendar. The guests, always men, are always close neighbors, and the selection of guests is based entirely on proximity, and not whether they are friends or relatives. They are called by a messenger of the host (usually a child of his) only five or ten minutes before the slametan is to begin, and they must drop whatever they are doing to come.^[4]

The Javanese calendar is the calendar of the Javanese people. It is used concurrently with two other calendars, the Gregorian calendar and the Islamic calendar. The Gregorian calendar is the official calendar of the Republic of Indonesia and civil society, while the Islamic calendar is used by Muslims and the Indonesian government for religious worship and deciding relevant Islamic holidays.

When they arrive, the guests sit on floor mats around the food which has been placed in the center, while incense fills the room. The ceremony begins with a formal speech (udjub) in high Javanese. The speech thanks the attendees for coming, presents the reason for the slametan, announces his intentions and petitions the spirits to secure for himself and his guests a state of equanimity (slamet, hence the name of the ritual), and finally apologizes for any errors in his speech and the humble inadequacy of the food. During pauses in the speech, the audience responds with solemn "inggih" ("yes").^[5]

Following the speech, somebody present gives an Arabic chant-prayer. Many will not know how, but the host makes sure that someone there had attended a religious school (usually a kyai); for special occasions he may even invite the village religious specialist (the modin ). Fragments of the Koran, especially the al-Fatiha, are most commonly used, although special prayers may be used if they are known. At pauses the audience says "amen" (amin). The prayer leader receives a small payment (wadjib).^[6]

At last, the food is served. While the ceremony is strictly for men, the food preparation falls upon the women in the family, who for larger ceremonies may draw on kin to assist in the preparation.^[4] Each guest receives a cup of tea and a banana-leaf dish containing each sort of food in the center of the room. The food is fancier than average, and each variety has a symbolic meaning, which is sometimes explained in the speech. The host himself does not eat, nor does he serve the food, which one or two of the guests do. When everybody has a dish, the host invites them to eat, which they do quickly without speaking. After a few minutes, and before eating most of the food, the guests excuse themselves, and finish eating the food in their own homes, with their own wives and children. The whole ceremony usually lasts only ten or fifteen minutes.^[6]

Timing and characteristics

Life cycle events

Around birth, there are four major slametans and a number of minor ones. The four major ones are:^[7]

Tingkeban, at about seven months of pregnancy (held only for the first child of either the mother or father)
Babaran or brokokan, at the birth itself
Pasaran, five days after birth, including the naming of the child
Pitonan, seven "months" after birth (a month being the 35-day cycle of the Javanese calendar)

The circumcision slametan (islamam or sunatan, held for boys between the ages of ten and fourteen) and the wedding slametan (kepanggihan) are similar in their ceremony and foods offered, and can be seen as coming-of-age ceremonies for boys and girls, respectively.^[8]

Funerals (layatan) generally take place as soon as possible after the death, and inevitably involve the religious specialist (modin) of the village. Slametans are held the day of the death, and then repeated in increasing size (both in number of guests and length of the chant) three, seven, forty, and 100 days after the death, the first and second anniversaries, and 1000 days after the death. The final one is the most elaborate, and is thought to mark the point when the body has completely decayed to dust.^[9]

Islamic feasts

The most important of the calendrical slametans are for the Prophet's birthday (Muludan, on 12 Rabi' al-awwal) and near the end of Ramadan (Maleman). Other notable holidays infrequently have slametans, and Satu Suro, the New Year's Day (1 Muharram) is celebrated by those who are self-consciously anti-Muslim. Because these dates are shared by everybody, it is common to attend slametans for many of one's neighbors in succession. For this reason, they tend to be relatively small, and particularly based on the principle of inviting neighbors.^[10]

Community feasts

The bersih désa is always held in Dhu al-Qi'dah (Sela), the eleventh month, on different days according to village tradition. This slametan is given at the place of burial of the dhanyang désa, the guardian spirit of the village. In santri villages, it may take place at a mosque and consist entirely of Muslim prayers. For this type of slametan, all families in the village are expected to contribute food, with the adult head of each family obliged to attend.^[11]

Personal feasts

Geertz's final category of slametans, intermittently occurring and dependent on a specific situation, are somewhat less frequent and tend to be smaller affairs. Reasons for holding these slametans include changing residences, changing names, going on a journey, bad dreams (it can prevent the fearful event), prevention or encouragement of rain, anniversaries of clubs and organizations, sorcery, healing, and others.^[12]

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References

Geertz, Clifford. The Religion of Java. Glencoe, IL: The Free Press, 1960.

Notes

1 2 Geertz, 11.
↑ Geertz, 30.
↑ Geertz, 14.
1 2 Geertz, 12.
↑ Geertz, 12-13.
1 2 Geertz, 13.
↑ Geertz, 38, 47.
↑ Geertz, 51.
↑ Geertz, 58-72.
↑ Geertz, 77-80.
↑ Geertz, 81-82.
↑ Geertz, 83-84.