JAKARTA: Indonesia’s historic royal capital of Solo will celebrate Eid Al-Adha with a royal procession on Saturday, in which “mountains” of local harvest are paraded and distributed as a symbol of gratitude and a reminder of the role of leaders in looking after the people’s welfare.
Grebeg, which roughly translates to ‘mass celebration,’ is a public ceremony held three times a year on the island of Java to mark Islamic holidays, including Eid Al-Fitr and the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad.
Though Indonesians joined Muslims in other parts of the globe in starting Eid celebrations on Friday, the centuries-old Javanese tradition will take place on the second day of Eid.
“Grebeg tradition started about 200 years ago at the Surakarta Royal Palace, this is a continuation from the same tradition that began in the Demak Sultanate,” Kanjeng Gusti Pangeran Haryo Adipati Dipokusumo, chief administrator of the Surakarta Royal Palace, told Arab News.
Demak Sultanate, which was located in the present-day city of Demak, was the first Islamic state in Java, while Surakarta is another name for Solo, once the capital of the Mataram Sultanate — the last major independent Islamic state in Java before it was colonized by the Dutch.
