An Evening at the Kraton

One night, Anna invited me along with her mother to attend an event at one of Cirebon’s three kratons. A kraton is the Indonesian word for palace. Now while that word may conjure pictures of opulence and refinement this is not the case. While the courtyard was beautiful, the remaining buildings of the compound are in various levels of disarray. The sultan has no real power, and relies on the government’s meager funds and whatever he can garnish from tour groups. The night I attended it was with a Japanese tour group.

First there was the gamelan. A gamelan is a musical ensemble of Indonesia typically featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums, and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings, and vocalists may also be included.
The term refers more to the set of instruments than the players of those instruments. A gamelan as a set of instruments is a distinct entity, built and tuned to stay together — instruments from different gamelan are not interchangeable. Anna began to play gamelan when she was in college in the States, and her husband is a very accomplished musician so they both performed during the festivities.

Next came the food. The snacks are what were most intriguing to me. As you sat in very ornate chairs you were served a very sweet ginger tea. I’m still not accustomed to drinking something piping hot while it 90 degrees outside, but I must admit that it is wonderful. It was also very soothing for my sore throat that I had at the time.
The boiled peanuts in a bowl were passed out next, followed by boiled potatoes. These were the snack we nibbled on as we listened to the gamelan and watched the dance performances.

The dance that most intrigued me was the trance dance. This is a performance that is said to communicate with the spirits. Trance performances are common throughout Indonesia. The dukun (ritual specialist in dealing with spirits and cures) with incense and hand motions called the appropriate spirit into the young female dancer. As the performer danced in a trance money was thrown at her and she would faint. The male performers were there to catch her.