Go Away..

For more than a century, the Kutai community of East Kalimantan has been organizing the Erau Tempong Tawar ritual to cast out evil and bad luck.

Erau, a festive celebration, is a cultural icon for the Kutai ethnic group. This ceremony, important for local people, has long attracted interest among domestic and foreign tourists, even being attended by representatives of Southeast Asian member nations of ASEAN in the 1990s.

This year’s Erau, which ran from July 26 to Aug. 3 at a cost of about Rp 4.5 billion, was held at the Tenggarong Seberang Stadium in Kutai Kartanegara regency in East Kalimantan, with around 2,000 spectators from Indonesia and other countries.

Windfall: The weeklong Erau festival is good business for local entrepreneurs selling traditional handicrafts. JP/Nurni S.Windfall: The weeklong Erau festival is good business for local entrepreneurs selling traditional handicrafts. JP/Nurni S.

“Erau is one of East Kalimantan’s cultural assets that enrich our national culture,” said East Kalimantan Deputy Governor Farid Wadjdy. “We should therefore preserve the Erau Festival for future generations. I feel very grateful to the Kutai Kartanegara sultanate, Kutai Kartanegara regency and people as well as all relevant parties for the success of the celebration this year.”

The weeklong festival is marked by an opening and a closing ceremony, all related to the Ayu, or the pillar of the throne, of the Sultanate.

The opening ceremony begins with the erection of the Ayu by the Sultan of Kutai Kartanegara ing Martadipura XX H. Adji Mohammad Salehoeddin II in the court of Kutai Kartanegara, or Mulawarman Museum, in Tenggarong. It is also marked by the ritual release of jagau or roosters into the air by the Sultan and regional officials.

To close the celebrations at the end of the week, the Ayu is removed.

Next in line: Youths in traditional costume guard the entrance to the royal palace as the king takes his bath. JP/Nurni S.Next in line: Youths in traditional costume guard the entrance to the royal palace as the king takes his bath. JP/Nurni S.

While the Ayu is in place, the Sultan is not allowed to step foot on the ground in order to remain blessed.

During this weeklong period, the Sultan is required to shower at a fixed time each day in front of
the court, thus open to public view, to a distance of two to three meters only.

While this bathing ritual, called beluluh, is being performed, nobody may pass before the Sultan. After he is bathed, visitors can approach and collect some of the colored rice – tambak karang – used by the Sultan in the ritual.

The tambak karang rice offering, which is believed to bring benevolence or good luck to those who observe it properly, is prepared every year for the Sultan’s beluluh ritual. The colorful rice is arranged on yellow cloths to produce decorations in the form of dragons.

As always, the rituals that marked the peak of this year’s Erau festival were mengulur naga (lowering of the dragons) and belimbur (the sprinkling of sacred water).

In the dragon-lowering ceremony, the Sultan and his relatives lower from their position a pair of ornamental replica dragons, one male and one female. The two dragons, each 10 meters long, had been previously placed on either side of the court in the Mulawarman Museum.

Among those attending the dragon ritual were Sultan Kartanegara H Adji Salehoeddin II and his wife, East Kalimantan Deputy Governor Farid Wadjdy and Acting Kutai Kartanegara Regent Sjachruddin.
Before the dragons were removed, Asmuni, a royal family member, read the story of the Erau dragons. The dragon procession was preceded by Tempong Tawar, a ceremony to dispel evil and attract virtue for the entire Kutai community; this was conducted by Adipati Praboe Anoem Soerya Adiningrat.

Praboe Anoem then led the procession carrying the dragons to Kutai Lama village in Anggana district, which was the site of the first capital of the Kutai Kartanegara kingdom.

As the dragon parade left, the Sultan sprinkled sacred water, known as air tuli, from Kutai Lama to start the belimbur. At the wail of a siren, all those present began sprinkling each other with the water.
During the festival, other rituals and traditions were also performed. Among these were menjamu benua (offerings of lavish meals); Kutai’s traditional jepen dance and oral narrative art; seluang mudik (encircling the Ayu); belian (healing), besaong manok (cock fighting) and menjala (coin tossing). There was also a pilgrimage to Kutai Lama (Old Kutai) and to the tomb of Aji Imbut, the founder of Tenggarong.

A grain of luck: Women arrange the tambak karang rice into colorful motifs. The rice is used during the king’s bathing ritual and later will be thrown to waiting members of the public as a sign of good luck. JP/Nurni S.A grain of luck: Women arrange the tambak karang rice into colorful motifs. The rice is used during the king’s bathing ritual and later will be thrown to waiting members of the public as a sign of good luck. JP/Nurni S.

Originally, Erau was held for the succession or coronation of a sovereign. The first such festival marked the initiation of five-year-old Aji Batara Agung Dewa Sakti, who was the first king of Kutai Kartanegara (1300–1325) and his coronation.

The tradition continued and, as it grew, Erau also included the conferment of titles by the king on community figures for their meritorious deeds for the kingdom.

In 1960, when the kingdom of Kutai Kartanegara was made into an autonomous region, Kutai regency, the Kutai people continued the ritual as a popular celebration and cultural festival, included
even on the agenda of the regency administration.

Erau also served to commemorate the anniversary of the founding of Tenggarong (on Sept. 29, 1782) as the capital of Kutai (now Kutai Kartanegara) regency. Later, Erau was held every two years.
Erau in the style of the Kutai Kartanegara sultanate was last held in 1965, when the sultan’s son Aji
Pangeran Adipati Praboe Anoem Soerya Adiningrat was inducted. In later years, Erau took its place as Kutai’s cultural festival and customary ritual.

In 1971, under the initiative of then Kutai regent Achmad Dahlan and the last sultan before autonomy Sultan A.M. Parikesit, Erau ceremonies began to be handled by the Kutai regency with some exceptions such as the conferment of titles.

For five years from 2003, however, there was no Erau. Following earnest petitions by the Kutai people, Erau was resumed last year. The Erau Cultural Festival is now included in the tourism office’s calendar of annual events.

Acting Regent Sjachruddin said Kutai Kartanegara regency would fully support future Erau events.
“Erau has become a cultural icon of East Kalimantan to be conserved for posterity,” he said. “It also has a major tourism potential that merits due attention today.”