It was 11 am when me and my friend, Qyoko, reached the beautiful house decorated in red and gold. Compare to the others, the house stood out like a metal in the sand reflecting the sunlight. Unlike in the cities, the houses in this sub-urban area have no number. We were told by Jarwo, the person who was responsible for this incidental trip, to take the first left turn after the gate of “Selamat Datang di Kota Agung” (Welcome to Kota Agung) and keep going until we found the house. He insisted that we would definitely recognize it once we saw it. Well, he is right…we did.
It was my first day in Lampung , the southest province in the Sumatera Island in Indonesia, and also was my first trip crossing the Sunda Strait. I was greeted by an old acquaintance, Qyoko, who apparently kindly enough to welcome me and let me stay at her place during my visit. I met her and another old acquaintance, Jarwo, almost a year ago on the war ship during our activities in Sail Komodo 2013, where we along with approximately 400 youths of Indonesia sailed to Komodo Island in East Nusa Tenggara. That morning, Qyoko and I were planning to spend the day in the city and visit Lampung’s Museum. We were about to asked Jarwo to join us when coincidentally, he phoned us and asked if we would like to join him doing interview for the local newspaper about the tradition of Nayuh, the Coronation Ceremony of Sai Batin Suntan (King of Sai Batin) in a village in Kota Agung. Nayuh is a very rare occasion and happens only once every 20-30 years. It was very lucky of me that during my visit, Sai Batin people held the tradition. Got very interested, Qyoko and I delayed our plan and hopped up to her motorcycle to start the ride to Kota Agung.
During the 1,5 hour ride, we passed 3 kabupaten (an administration area with equal territory as a city) and 120 kilometers of bumpy road. When we arrived, it was a very hot afternoon and our bottoms were numbed L. Approaching the beautiful house, we heard, through speakers, the pemimpin adat (tribe leader) spoke in rhyme in Lampung’s traditional language. Apparently, the ceremony had started since morning. Later on, I was informed that he was saying a grace in traditional poetry while crowning the new king and queen. Now, I know why, even if I didn’t understand the meaning of the words, I could still enjoy the ‘song’ of it.
There are a lot of interesting things about this Nayuh tradition. The whole processions were held for a week in which specific ceremonies held in every day. We came on the 6th day. It was almost the last day of the procession but also had the most important session, the crowning. I was informed that the previous events were greeting ceremony to welcome the relative tribe from other villages, the wedding celebration of the new king and queen, and the bathing ceremony, which held yesterday, where the previous king and queen were dethroned.
Different with the coronation process in many countries which usually held after the previous king passed away, the Nayuh tradition in Lampung is held after the new king married the queen and the procession started with the abdication ceremony of the previous king and queen. After the coronation, the king and queen will receive a title which represent their character or the role that they will hold during their era. The new king was titled as Suntan Raja Hukum II. Heinherited the title from the previous king, Suntan Raja Hukum I in which Raja Hukum means leader of the law.
After the coronation, it was the time for the feast which was definitely one of the best moments ;). Beside the delicious food, there was also something interesting about how the event was proceeded. It was definitely like a huge feast where a lot of people sat together, eating and chatting, except it was specialized only for the men, for women, and in the night, for the youngsters.
The feast was divided into 3 session, first, feast only for the bapak-bapak. It was hard for me to find other words in English. Bapak-bapak means men who had been married. Since the first feast is for the men so the ibu-ibu (their spouse) are the one who did the preparation and then served it. After that, the second feast was held only for ibu-ibu, women who had been married. Now is the time when the bapak-bapak prepared the feast and served their spouse. The meal was cooked from the ingredients and raw food that was brought by the people who come. In here, they used the hutang (debt) concept, so whenever there are big occasion (marriage, give birth, death ceremony, and others) they will bring the snacks or food or ingredients as a ‘gift’ for the host. The host will keep tab all the ‘gift’ that each person brought and when that person holding a ceremony, he/she will bring the same ‘gift’. To make sure that each ‘gift’ is noted correctly, they cover it with the special clothing that was hand-made and sewn with the name of the family head. I love how colorful it is.
The last, but not the least, is the feast for the bujang gadis or youngsters who haven’t married. Long time ago, bujang gadis is the most awaited feast among the youngsters because youth from other villages will come too so it was a great chance for the guys to meet the girls from another village and vice versa. It was also known for the time to find your spouse-to-be because after the feast, there was pantun (traditional Malay poem which are metaphoric and rhythmic) battles. The battle was between the guys and the girls, in which reciprocally they will make pantun for the other side to show their capabilities and qualities in knowledge and bravery. The guy or the girl with the best pantun will be admired by the others and considered as a high quality bachelor or bachelorette.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay until the night to see how the bujang gadis went L or even got into battle. Who know, I might found someone…
