Banjarese Batik

Banjarese

The manufacture of Banjarese Batik began during the reign of King Lambung Mangkurat, who ruled over the Kingdom of Dipa in South Kalimantan from the 12th to the 14th centuries. Because each fabric was created and manufactured to order, the particular sort of fabric was first referred to as "Kain Pamintan," or "Tailored Fabric," because each fabric was designed and made to order. 

The particular pattern and kind of clothes were created under the guidance of a traditional healer or spiritual elder for the purpose of participating in spiritual rites. Only shamans, or those with the capacity to drive away bad spirits, were permitted to create Kain Pamintan during that time period.

Banjarese batik has transcended its traditional form and has found its way into contemporary fashion, despite the fact that it has lost some of its spiritual components along the journey. Since the 1980s, a large number of sasirangan shirts and blouses have been made for both everyday and formal usage. Because no specialized or heavy equipment is necessary, this resurgence has led to the establishment of hundreds of modest home businesses. 

Batik production facilities are located in Banjarmasin, the capital of South Kalimantan, at Sasirangan, which is located in the Kampung Melayu neighborhood. Since 2010, the Banjarmasin City government's Tourism Office has designated Sasirangan village as one of the city's most popular tourist sites, making it one of the city's most popular tourist destinations.

Banjarese Batik

Beyond the sparkling gemstones to be found in the towns of Cempaka and Martapura, the province of South Kalimantan holds a hidden treasure within the culture of its indigenous Banjar people. This treasure is found within the Banjar people themselves, who are the province's indigenous Banjar ethnic group. It has been passed down through the years and was created by the greatest Banjarese hands. Sasirangan is a representation of Banjar's ethnic sense of art on sheets of cloth, and it is a form of folk art.

It is said to be derived from the Banjar term sirang or menyerang, which means "to sew together," which highlights the delicate process of hand stitching and weaving that goes into the creation of this unique traditional cloth. The method used in the production of Sasirangan is comparable to that used in the production of Javanese Batik, which employs the barrier coloring process. However, Sasirangan used barrier materials such as thread or yarn instead of wax and "canting" to achieve his results. 

The artist stitches the pre-made designs onto cloth, then binds the needed patterns with string to prevent contamination with other colors, after which the fabric is immersed in dyes to complete the process.

Traditionally, natural dyes were used to create colors; for example, turmeric roots were used to create yellow, karabintang fruit and areca nuts were used to create red and brown hues, and so on.Chemical dyes are becoming more extensively utilized than natural dyes. Pewarnaan Rintang, or color blocking, is the term used to describe this coloring process. 

When the pattern patterns are clearly visible, the final step is to remove the stitches that were used to create them. Because of the manual method, it is impossible to construct an accurate pattern. In addition, it is not practical to produce large quantities of Sasirangan, in contrast to current Javanese batik printing. The production of a simple piece of Sasirangan can take as little as 4 days, whilst the most complicated ones might take many months to complete.

The History of Banjarese Batik

Historians  trace the origins of some of the first wax-resist textiles back more than 1,500 years to cultures such as Ancient Egypt, Sui and Tang Dynasties China, Nero Period Japan, and the Yoruba people of Nigeria and Senegal, among others. However, batik, as we know it, first gained popularity in Indonesia, reaching its zenith between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, when it was widely used for apparel. Trader sent batik fabrics from Indonesia to other parts of the world during this time, and they gained a lot of attention that still stands today.

Men's shirts made of Banjarese Batik 

The influence of Hindu and Javanese culture on the Banjarese way of life can be seen in the way they dress, which is a hint at a multi-cultural influence. The way they dress is influenced by the use of the word "Sasirangan", which is a hint at a multi-cultural influence.

Since Batik was designated as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on October 2, 2009, its popularity has skyrocketed. 

Many individuals have worn batik for a variety of circumstances, including attending wedding receptions, working in the office, and traveling sightseeing, among others. 

Batik has become a regular sight in our everyday lives. 

Sasirangan is a traditional textile that originated in South Borneo and is still being used today.

Men's Banjarese Batik Ceremonial Shirts

This would have been worn for rituals like weddings, circumcision rites, performances, and other events in South Kalimantan's traditional culture. 

This Banjar ceremonial garment makes use of a unique pattern that contains swirls, which represents the Banjarese pride and was worn throughout the ceremony. 

Even today, the Banjarese community continues to use and wear traditional batik fabric (a big piece of highly patterned cloth that incorporates these same swirls), which is a continuation of the group's traditional patterns. 

Javanese women use it as a kemben, or torso wrap, while for males, the edge of batik cloth can be sewed together to form a tube cloth, known as a sarong, or wrapped around the hips, known as kain, in a manner similar to that of women. 

The History of the Banjarese People

The Banjar kingdom's founding myth claims that the first raja's bride sprang out of a massive quantity of white foam (or, alternately, mud) with the help of the vizier, Lambung Mangkurat, who would live for three generations to supervise the new realm. Other people from legend or history are often called upon in traditional rites, including many sultans, other nobles like Pangeran Surianata dan Puteri Jun-jung Buih, and the muwakkil Datu Baduk, a "good" ghost who came to Indonesia with Sheikh Banjari from Mecca.

The Banjarese are familiar with a wide range of spirits or ghosts. One such creature is the takau, which seems like a black cat but can grow to be the size of a water buffalo when fully grown. After death, a lady who has used black magic to maintain power over her husband transforms into a penjadian, who visits her family to ask for sustenance while stinking like pus. 

In addition to the ability to turn themselves into grass or animals while still alive, tabib (traditional healers) also have the ability to become invisible, allowing them to inflict misfortune on those whom their patrons have directed them. After consuming minyak kuyang (a kind of oil), a lady transforms into a monster capable of separating her head from her body with her hands. In quest of pregnant ladies whose blood it can siphon off, the monster uses its ears as wings and the heart, lungs, and stomach dangling from its mouth as a tail to fly around. The creature leaves the body, which is hidden behind a closed door, and returns to it before the sun comes up.

One sort of amulet is the jimat tambang liring, which is used to increase one's attractiveness and increase one's social standing. There are three pieces to this: a piece of paper with Qur'anic texts on it; a picture of the wayang clown-servants, Semar and his children; and a picture of the wayang hero Arjuna as Batara Kamajaya, the heavenly nymphs' (bidadari) protector, along with seven bidadari (heavenly nymphs). The ink used in the amulet has been combined with the blood of a person who has died, and whose spirit must be remembered and worshiped at all times.

When predicting the future, the Islamic scriptures Syair Tajulmuluk and Syair Siti Zubaidah are used: one opens such a book to a random page, flips three or seven pages ahead, then interprets the content of the fourth or eighth page. It is possible to diagnose ailments and determine remedies by turning to the fourth page before turning to the random page of the book. A man might use the surah "Yasin" from the Quran in a similar way to entice a woman to fall in love with him or to hurt an adversary in battle.

Banjarese Religion

Banjarmasin has produced Islamic scholars who are well-known throughout the archipelago, the most famous of whom is Sheikh Muhammad Arsyad Al-Banjari (1710–1812), who was sent by the Sultan to study in Mecca (his book, the Sabilal Muhtadin, is the name of Banjarmasin's great mosque, which is lavishly decorated with the finest marble and calligraphic decoration). The existence of Islamic mystical sects, some of which declare (heretically) the identity of God and one's own self, has been documented for centuries. 

During their meditation sessions, mystics gather in vast structures constructed in the jungle near settlements, with each man sitting within his own kelambu (mosquito net) and only intending to defecate. When Islam began to modernise in the early twentieth century, tensions erupted between traditional and modernising Muslims (respectively, the "older" and "younger" generations). 

Suppose a modernizer came to pay his respects to an elder kinsman of the conservative group; the latter would gladly accept him, but when the modernizer had departed, the chair on which he had sat would be scrubbed clean, as though a leper had sat in it. There are large constituencies for both the traditionalist Nahdatul Ulama and the reformist Muhammadiyah organizations in Banjara right now.

Several topeng (masked dance) and dalang (shadow puppeteer) families are dedicated to the worship of Hindu gods like Batara Kala, the head of spirits and the Lord of Time. If a dalang does not get the bisik wayang ("whisper of the shadow puppet"), he or she will not be able to perform. This is because Arjuna and Semar have seized him or her.

Banjarese Relationships with other People

Banjarese society was divided into two social classes: the tutus and the jaba (lower and upper classes). 

Nobles, descended from the Banjar monarchs and bearing titles such as pangeran, ratu, gusti, antung, nanang, andin, and rama, were known as the tutus in Indonesian history. 

All of the jaba were commoners, including numerous office holders such as kiai adipati, patih (patih is a term used to refer to a chief), tumenggung (ronggo), demang, mangku, and kiai. 

Instead of nobles, ulama (Islamic scholars), merchants, and peasants separating society as they did in the past, today the most important division is between educated people and "regular" people, with ulama still being a separate group of people.

When dining with their families, it is customary for elderly people to sit with other elderly people and younger people to sit with younger people. Older people also sit in a physically higher location on the floor to maintain proper etiquette. 

The younger generation follows after the older generation and takes on the more difficult jobs. According to tradition, the only time young men and women are permitted to interact is when they are preparing food for huge festivities in a community kitchen.

Banjarmasin's Multicultural Tourist Attractions 

Local Banjarese food is sold. One of the most renowned culinary treats of southern Borneo, it is served on a banana leaf.  In this dish, transparent broth is served alongside a variety of ingredients, including chunks of chicken flesh, potato fritters, vermicelli rice, boiled eggs, and ketupat (chicken liver).

An Indonesian duck dish known as nasi itik gambut is served with steamed rice that has been blended with boiled, fried, and sautéed fowl as well as habang sauce before being wrapped in a banana leaf to give it a distinct scent. 

Banjarese Arts

Banjarese Batik leather puppet shadow theater is a syncretic Hindu-Buddhist-Animist musical theater form. It is a complex combination of words, music, drama, stagecraft, movement, and mystical ritual performed in a Banjarese leather puppet shadow theater.

As a result, even though it came to South and East Kalimantan from Java in the 14th century with its accompanying gamelan music, it has stayed alive today among the mostly Malay Banjarese people of South and East Kalimantan.

There is only a small amount of Muslim influence in wayang kulit Banjar, but the storylines, puppet figures, and scriptures still have old Buddhist, Hindu, and Javanese elements that have been passed down through the generations.