Photo Gallery --> Pleasing the Mountain Spirits 2009 in Yogyakarta

The Bekakak bride was shown to the public before being sacrificed.

A man created a model that looked as if he was riding on turtle

Locals made dolls depicting the spirits and some dressed up as spirits themselves.

The slaughter of the Bekakak groom at Gamping Mountain. The sacrifice was believed to tame the spirits. The event became a place to show off local creativity.

Two men acted as if they were carried by dolls. The cultural parade enlivened the Saparan Bekakak ritual with a touch of fun.

Visitors grabbed fruit from the alms carriers. The alms are believed to bring good luck.

In 1755, when Prince Mangkubumi became king and assumed the title of Sultan Hamengkubuwono I, he occupied a temporary palace (keraton) in the Gamping mountain range, Sleman, Yogyakarta.

One unfortunate day, a royal servant Wirosuto and his wife disappeared. The palace believed they were captured by mountain spirits and the king ordered the people to hold a ritual to please the spirits and prevent it from happening again.

The ritual, called Saparan Bekakak, is done every Sapar month in the Javanese calendar, hence the name Saparan.

Bekakak means the sacrifice of animals or humans, but this ceremony uses dolls. A male and female doll sitting in crossed-legged positions were made of glutinous rice filled with palm sugar paste by a local shaman. They were dressed in Javanese wedding attire and brought along in a 5-kilometer procession from a nearby village to the mountain.

The procession held on Feb.13 this year, involved hundreds of people including students and people from the village acting as entertainers. The main ritual itself involved four soldiers on elephant back, 20 soldiers on horseback, a pair of Bekakak dolls, Delingsari soldiers and dolls depicting the evils spirits. There were also fruit offerings beautifully arranged and carried along in the procession.


Original Post By: www.thejakartapost.com