Keeping traditions alive with 'Pranatacara'

ID Nugroho , The Jakarta Post , Trenggalek, East Java | Fri, 07/04/2008 11:08 AM | Java Brew

There are many ways to keeps traditions. One way is to learn about pranatacara, master of ceremony in Javanese culture.

Across Java, however, there is only one school, SMA 2 Trenggalek senior high school, which has gone the extra mile to include it as an extracurricular activities.

The move has helped make the students proud of using Javanese language.

"Suwah rep data pitana hananging pundita sasana rinengga engkang dinten menika kagirangaken minangka papan mugih arjosuta."

The strange sentence came from Nuraini, a student at the school. This sentence was commonly said by Javanese master ceremonies to welcome people attending an event, wishing them for prosperity.

Unlike other Javanese words, Nuraini's words are not common. "We call it kromo inggil, the highest level of Javanese language," he explained.

Such a high level of Javanese language is usually used by the highest level within Javanese society, such the nobility or members of Yogyakarta palace.

Then why do young people like Nuraini, who do not belong to a nobility, use it?

Nuraini uses the language because he loves it, he said.

"I have learned about it from my school's extracurricular program, called pranatacara. I found it to be as an interesting language," he said.

Pranatacara is the Javanese term for master of ceremony activities. It is common for Javanese to use pranatacara service during Javanese-themed events, such as wedding ceremonies.

Unfortunately, not many Javanese understand pranatacara because many Javanese now opt for more modern, simple wedding ceremonies.

Slowly, pranatacara, which is also part of Javanese culture, started to diminish.

In a hope to bring the profession back to life, the school's principal Sugeng Winarno, came up with the idea to include pranatacara among the school's extracurricular activities.

He said that he has even invited the Indonesian Brotherhood of Culture People (Permadani) from Yogyakarta to come and teach their students about pranatacara.

Starting in September last year, pranatacara was taught every Sunday to 80 students and 10 teachers.

They were taught about renggeping wicoro (how to speaks), kapranacaran (how to manage a ceremony), toto kromo (a set of Javanese rules usually applying to nobles), siker setanan, padhuwungan (knowledge of Javanese language), ngadat toto coro Jowo (learning about Javanese cultures) and many more.

"Actually, pranatacara is not a new thing for us, only that we almost never use it anymore. That's why we often laugh when Permadani teaches us for a first time," Sugeng said .

Learning to speak kromo inggil and Javanese literature are the most difficult things about pranatacara. Students must memorize these and practice in front of their class.

Nuraini is the best pranatacara student, getting the highest score on the pranatacara test.

"Well, I don't know why, but maybe because I'm so very interested in the subject that it's easy for me," Nuraini said.

Javanese language is not new things for him as he uses it regularly in daily conversation.

"I'm not an expert but I usually use it at home, especially with my family," he said.

Sadly, being the best at pranatacara has put him in an awkward situation. His friends often used Javanese for a joke.

Many of Nuraini's friends are more interested in modern Indonesian and slang.

"Not like me, my friends prefer to use Jakartans ways of talking and make a joke of kromo inggil. But honestly, I don't care about it," he said.

Another student, Febri Yogawati, said learning pranatacara helped her appreciate Javanese as a deep and meaningful language.

"When I was learning about Javanese literature, I found many meaningful philosophies inside," said Febri, who plans to learn more about Javanese literature in college after graduating from senior high school.

She said it's important for students to learn more about local culture as it helps them gain a greater understanding of local wisdom.

"It's very useful. It helps us to get deeper understanding of life."