KNOW THE UNKNOWN… | Indonesia Travel Tips, Part 1

When you hear ‘Indonesia‘ , think about diversity and the complexity, whether it’s about their languages, their religions, their cuisines, their cultures, etc.

If you are the first timer to visit this country, there may be a lot of things that you have never seen or known before in your life.

justgoindonesia.com wants you to know the unknown before you pack your bag. This section covers only the surface, and more in the nutshell will be covered in other sections.

RITUAL AND CELEBRATIONS

Indonesia has many distinctively indigenous cultures. Many of local ethics are still practicing their rituals and also wearing Traditional customs.
Rituals in Indonesia are traditions, beliefs, value, and customs that belong to Indonesian cultures.
Indonesian value every single event of their life, whether it’s the pregnancy, the birth of a child , the puberty, the engagement, the proposal, the wedding , build a house, move to a new house , harvests, the death or even the after death , there are ritual ceremonies and celebrations.
Centuries ago Indonesia was the trading route for all those traders from the Middle East, South Asia as well as the Far East who were later influenced and shaped lots of culture practices into a mixture of a complex culture. And is way different than the original local cultures.

MUSIC

Indonesia is home to the diversity of traditional native music as well as the instruments to name a few ;
Gamelan from East & Central Java and Bali .Angklung from West Java. The Sasando which made from the split leaf of the lontar palm that produce the same resemblance of a harp, is from East Nusa Tenggara
Kroncong is a musical genre uses guitars and ukulele as the main musical instruments. This genre was introduced by Portuguese traders in the 15th century.

DANCE

All Indonesian dances reflect the diversity of culture from different kind of ethnic groups
There are more than 3000 Indonesian original dances and each ethnic group has their own distinct moves. The dances of Indonesia are divided into three eras; the Prehistoric Era, the Hindu/Buddhist Era and the Era of Islam, and into two genres; court dance and folk dance.
Some Indonesian traditional dances are : Ramayana and Mahabarata dance from Bali. Reog Ponorogo from East Java, Wayang Orang dance from Java, Saman dance from Aceh Darussalam, etc.

DRAMA AND THEATRE

Wayang is the traditional theatre of Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese Shadow puppets.
Javanese Ludruk , Ketoprak and Lenong Betawi and all of these humor drama often involved audiences in their performance.
In West Sumatra, during traditional ceremonies and festivals, Randai is known as a folk theatre tradition of the Minangkabau . It is a combination of music, singing, dance and drama and the martial art, silat and the performance often displays the semi-historical legends and love story of Minangkabau.
Bangsawan is knowm in Riau as a Malay folk theatre.

Continued on :

KNOW THE UNKNOWN…Part 2

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