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DCF 2024 Culminates with Jamasan and Loc-Shaving
WINDONESIA August 25, 2024
The 13 children getting their locs shaved as part of DCF 2024. (Suara Merdeka Banyumas)
The 2024 Dieng Culture Festival (DCF) culminated with the jamasan and loc-shaving procession, a ritual that is always awaited by visitors.
This sacred event took place at the Arjuna Temple Complex in Dieng Kulon Village, Banjarnegara Regency, Central Java Province, and was attended by 13 children with locs who underwent a mass ruwatan.
This ritual began with a procession that took the participants from the house of one of the Dieng traditional leaders, Mbah Sumanto, to the Arjuna Temple Complex. The children, all of whom were girls, walked in a solemn procession before entering the main event. The rituals' officials are made up of the girls' families.
The ruwatan began with a prayer led by Mbah Sumarsono, followed by the jamasan or purification carried out by the women officials. The locs was then shaved by the male officials in a process accompanied by the ritual's two main traditional leaders, Mbah Sumanto and Mbah Sumarsono.
After the hair was cut, the procession ends with the locs being thrown into Lake Balekambang near the Arjuna Temple Complex. The act symbolizes the release of burdens and the renewal of life for the children.
Banjarnegara Regency Tourism and Culture Office (Dinparbud) Head Tursiman explained that the children's locs are considered gifts that must be purified so that they could grow normally.
"The ritual of shaving the locs is an effort to make the children's hair grow normally. [Each] children who will undergo the purification must also convey a special request, which is believed to come from their deepest desires," he said.
The children's requests vary, from pets, candy, and bicycles, and are considered important requirements that must be met before their shaving is carried out.
The ritual is not only an interesting cultural attraction, but also full of Dieng denizens' traditional values and beliefsthat have been passed down from generation to generation. Tursiman added that the event is part of cultural preservation efforts that must continue to be maintained, and DCF is an event that introduces Dieng's cultural wealth to the world.
Source: banyumas.suaramerdeka.com