Labuhan Ceremony at Ngrenehan Beach

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A. Overview

Labuhan, also known as sedekah laut, is a traditional ceremony of floating offerings and flowers of many colors into the South Sea (Indian Ocean), Yogyakarta. The rite takes root in the belief of the people of Yogyakarta about Kanjeng Ratu Kidul (Queen of the South Sea), who is believed to be the ruler of the South Sea. Not only the royal family and relatives, Yogyakarta people, especially those who live in southern coastal area, have strong faith and also practice activities related to the myths. Among the people are those of the fisher community in Kanigoro Village, Saptosari District, Gunungkidul. As a form of their belief, every Suro 1^st (Muharram 1^st) the people hold labuhan ceremony in Ngrenehan Beach.

The people of Kanigoro used to have a ceremony like labuhan, called golongan ceremony. It was held every after peak time for catching teri (various small fishes) as a gratitude to God for the abundant fishes. Before knowing a lot about fishing matters, they were mostly farmers who would go fishing around Ngrenehan waters for additional income.

It all started in 1982, when fishermen from nearby Baron Beach came to Ngrenehan to teach the people how to fish using boat and net. In the beginning, only few people were interested. Not until the Baron fishermen showed them how many fishes they could catch that they began to think of becoming fishermen. Ever since, they got down to catching fishes in the sea.

In 1997, Ngrenehan fishermen once caught an abundant amount of fishes. It was that time that the idea of holding a ceremony of labuhan came across their mind. The forms and protocols of the ceremony were adopted from labuhan in Baron Beach. The rite seems to be considered very important because the South Sea is from where they earn a livelihood every day. Labuhan is held to avoid disfavor of the Queen of the South Sea as well as to pray to God for abundant yield from the sea.

In general, there are two sets of events in the ceremony, which are tirakatan on the eve of Sura 1^st and the labuhan or floating the offerings on the next day (noon of Sura 1^st). The offerings consist of rooster ingkung as a symbol of the fishermen’s bravery in sailing the ocean; boat-shaped gunungan as a symbol of the fishermen’s occupation; various kinds of jenang such as jenang abang (red jenang) that symbolizes mother and jenang putih (white jenang) for father; sugarcane as a symbol of protector for the fishermen; various dishes made of goat as an offering for the Queen of the South Sea; violet silk as an offering for the troops of the Queen so that they will not do harm to the fishermen; and many kinds of fruits such as rambutan, banana, papaya, apple, orange, salak, and young coconut as an offering for the coastal guardian spirit so as to let the fishermen do their job.

The offerings are brought into the sea by the people on a boat with four other boats accompanying. As the boats come approximately 1 kilometer from the edge of the shore, the gunungan and offerings are floated in the water by the juru kunci (custodian) with a prayer to the Queen which is more or less as follows:

“Nyuwun tedha rahayu slamet para nelayan, nek dibucali entene niki, dene onten kekurangane isine guwo niki nyuwun pangapunten. Dene bokmenai nelayan lampah sepindhah, strimah nyuwun ngapura, para nelayan nyuwun iwak…”

Which means:

“By this we wish that Your Highness will provide the fishermen with food and safety. If we miss something in the gunungan and offerings we are floating here, we sincerely ask for apology. If there is any fisherman does something wrong, we ask for apology. The fishermen hope for abundant fishes…”

After floating the gunungan and offerings, the juru kunci and entourage will head back for the shore. The ceremony will then be ended with a show of campursari music.

B. Features

Labuhan ceremony in Ngrenehan Beach can be categorized as a big and mirthful event as shown by the amount of cost and the involvement of all Kanigoro people. At 18.00 the night before Sura 1^st, people start to crowd the shore to take part in tirakatan. The event begins with communal prayers led by the juru kunci and then followed with a leather puppet show all night long. The quiet surrounding of the beach, which is usually only intervened by the sounds of waves pounding on the coral cliff and the night breeze once in a while, during this event will be noisy with the sounds of kempul, gong, siyem bonang, rebab, gender, gambang, celempung, suling, and other gamelan musical instruments. Despite the drowsiness, the people will remain enthusiastic to watch the show until the end.

Next morning, around 08.00, people will come to the shore once more to take part in Labuhan ceremony. All participants, male and female, old and young, are wearing Javanese traditional clothes to escort the gunungan and offerings to the sea. After the opening event and some speeches from the committee and local government representative, the people will carry the gunungan and offerings up to the given boat. The arrangement of the entourage is started with the boat up front taking the offerings and the carriers, followed with the boat of putri dhomas/pagar ayu ladies, then behind it are the village board, and the last is a boat carrying some fishermen. It will become merrier as soon as the music of gendhing kebogiro is played while the offerings are being taken to the sea.

Before sailing, the boats are officially launched by the regent or local government representative. This formality is usually watched by hundreds of people and tourists. Tourists who want to be in one of the boats are allowed to do that but permission from the committee is of course mandatory. For those not used to sailing on a boat, it is suggested that they should stay on the shore because the 10 people capacity boat is likely to be tossed to and fro by the big waves of the South Sea, causing them seasick.

In the closing, labuhan ceremony is pepped up with campursari musical show. The show is really an attraction that can lure hundreds of people to come. Moreover, the campursari group on stage is not just any group. It is usually a group that is so famous in Gunungkidul, like the one led by Tejo, for example. Almost all people in the area know that Tejo is a great singer with an amazing voice. The man himself, Tejo, once won a national dangdut contest held by a private TV station so that he may even be well-known throughout Indonesia.

C. Location

Labuhan ceremony is held in Ngrenehan Beach, Kanigoro Village, Saptosari District, Gunungkidul Regency, Special Province of Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

D. Access

Ngrenehan Beach is situated more or less 60 kilometers south of Yogyakarta downtown. To get to the beach, there are two main routes. The first is Yogyakarta—Gading—Playen—Trowono—Nglanggeran Beach. The second is Yogyakarta—Wonosari—Paliyan—Trowono—Ngrenehan Beach. These are the primary routes usually taken by tourists or the local people.

Both private and public transportation can be used to get to the place. However, taking public transportation, bus in particular, visitors can only get to Trowono. From there, visitors can take a motorcycle taxi because there is no bus or taxi operating in this route.

E. Ticket

There are not any charges for the visitors to attend labuhan ceremony. Visitors only have to pay Rp 3.000 for entrance ticket to Ngrenehan Beach

F. Accommodations and Other Facilities

In the area, there are some facilities such as mosque, food stalls, public convenience, and parking lot.

Text: Samsuni
Photos: Collection of Jogjatrip.com
Translation: Reza Daffi
(Primary data and various sources)

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If you are from outside Yogyakarta and want to visit this place by travel agency services,
please contact:

Maharatu Tour and Travel

Jl. Sisingamangaraja No. 27 Yogyakarta.
Telp. +62 274 8373005. Fax. +62 274 379250
Email : maharatu@maharatu.com -maharatu257@yahoo.com
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