East and West Gumeleng residents welcome Ramadan with Nyadran Gedhe Gumeleng

Nyadran Gedhe Gumelem on Feb. 27, 2025, a cultural ritual welcoming Ramadan in the villages of East and West Gumelem in Susukan District, Banjarnegara Regency, was attended by hundreds of residents. They all brought rice and side dish containers called tenong.

The activity began with a cultural procession departing from the Khasan Besari Gumelem Great Mosque, a pilgrimage to the Ki Ageng Giring Petilasan, and ended with a pilgrimage to the tomb of Ki Ageng Gumelem. After the closing prayer, residents together with government officials dined together.

During the activity, the Cultural Heritage Decree was also handed over for three objects in the villages that were visited that day. Susukan District Head Suroso, representing the Banjarnegara Regional Leadership Communication Forum (Forkopimda), gave his appreciation for the activity that combined cultural, religious, and social aspects.

"Alhamdulillah, three cultural heritage sites in Gumelem have been designated this year. Gumelem has also been designated as a pioneering tourist village. In 2024, East Gumelem Village was even designated as one of only 15 Cultural Villages in Central Java by the Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Ministry. This certainly gives us a responsibility to collaborate so that we can move up to become a developing, advanced or independent tourist village like Dieng Kulon," said Suroso.

West Gumelem Village Head Arief Machbub said that the Sadran Gedhe activity is a tradition passed down from ancestors that continues to be preserved as a form of gratitude ahead of the arrival of Ramadan.

"Anyone who is happy with the arrival of Ramadan and then fasts well will definitely be granted salvation. Nyadran Gedhe is also part of our joy with the arrival of Ramadan, [as] we eat together from tenong and share food with each other. Anyone who shares will definitely get blessings," he stated.

A ritual was also held to hand over the key to the hermitage and the tomb net which symbolized the importance of Gumelem for the establishment of the Mataram Sultanate. The sultanate was said to have assigned Uda Kusuma to guard the hermitage of Ki Ageng Giring, one of the central figures in the establishment of Mataram.

Banjarnegara Cultural Heritage Expert Team (TACB) Head Heni Purwono hopes that the tradition will continue to be preserved and that assignment of cultural heritage status to sites in West and East Gumelem will further strengthen their standing as iconic historical and cultural tourism villages.

"I hope this (the villages getting recognition for cultural heritage sites) will trigger the recognition of other cultural heritage sites and intangible cultural heritage. The TACB are always open to collecting data, reviewing, and proposing the assignment of cultural heritage status to the [Banjarnegara] Regent. Of course, we will be greatly aided if the local community that owns [potential] cultural heritage sites proactively register them. We will not confiscate them, we will only record, review, and propose for [recognition of their cultural heritage sites] so they are legally protected," explained Heni.