Agustin and Srikandi’s Important Duty
Final touches to preparations are being made. The President asked for prayers for the success of the wedding celebration.
In a matter of hours, the wedding ceremony of the daughter of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo will be held in Solo, Central Java. Final touches to preparations are being made. The President asked for prayers for the success of the celebration that will be held on Wednesday (8/11).
Mujiono, 41, guided Agustin out of her stall in Jajar subdistrict, Laweyan district, Solo, Monday (6/11). The two 5-year-old mares, Agustin and Srikandi, have been prepared to pull the golden carriage that will carry President Jokowi’s daughter, Kahiyang Ayu, to her wedding to Muhammad Bobby Afif Nasution.
Preparations for the Kahiyang-Bobby wedding have been ongoing. Two rehearsals for the golden carriage escort were held on Monday, with the carriages traversing the route from Hotel Alila Solo, where Bobby and his extended family are staying in Solo, to Graha Saba Buana, the wedding venue, which is about 3 kilometers away. "There will be eight carriages, four for Mbak (Miss) Kahiyang, Pak Jokowi, and their family. Four others are [prepared] for Mas (Mr) Bobby and his parents’ family,” said Mujiono, whom President Jokowi has frequently asked to arrange an escort of horse-drawn carriages.
According to Mujiono, eight of the brown mares he has raised, including Agustin and Srikandi, will pull four of the carriages in pairs. ”Whenever Pak Jokowi makes an order, he always asks for calm horses, not fussy ones," said Mujiono, who will be driving the carriage that will carry Kahiyang.
On Monday, the golden carriage for the bride was still at Lodji Gandrung, the official residence of the Solo Mayor. The carriage is charming, painted black and decorated with golden carvings, and topped with a canopy.
The carriage, which belongs to the Solo administration, is equipped with glass windows and an ivory-white interior that can carry two passengers sitting face to face.
"Tomorrow (Tuesday, 7/11), the carriage will be decorated," said Muhtadi, 67, who is used to receiving orders from President Jokowi for the use of the golden carriage.
The Graha Saba Buana, the venue of the wedding reception, was abuzz with activity. Decorations were being hung up inside and outside the building. White tents were pitched in the yard outside. Metal detectors were also being readied.
The President, following a working visit to Madiun, East Java, personally checked on the wedding preparations Monday afternoon. "General rehearsals have proceeded according to our plans. Insya Allah (God willing), all will go smoothly and God will make everything possible," said President Jokowi.
The wedding ceremony commenced on Monday evening with a religious recitation attended by nearby neighbors. The traditional ceremony of siraman (bathing of the bride) was held on Tuesday, followed later that evening with the traditional midodareni wedding procession.
Preparing for Kahiyang’s wedding, President Jokowi said, was more difficult than the wedding of Gibran Rakabuming Raka, his eldest son. For this wedding, in accordance with Javanese tradition, the bride’s parents were responsible for organizing the wedding ceremony, or mantu. “If in Mas Gibran’s wedding, it was Ngundhuh Mantu, it is different [this time] because we just follow the women," he said.
Ngundhuh Mantu is the Javanese custom of preparing the groom for his wedding, which is traditionally carried out by the men in the family.
Jokowi said that he had asked for help from his neighbors. He had also recruited pedicab drivers who, according to the plan, will transport the wedding guests from the parking lot of the Sumber and Banyuanyar fields to Graha Saba Buana.
Public celebration
The Kahiyang-Bobby wedding reception will be open not only to high-ranking colleagues of the President and his family, but it will also be a public party. On this joyful occasion, the President will share his joy and has invited residents, starting with his neighbors, to sidewalk vendors, and to the traders of traditional markets. ”Half of the invitees are local residents,” said Jokowi.
Ahead of his daughter’s wedding ceremony, the President looks happy. For him, it was time for Kahiyang get married. "It is the time to build a family, to socialize, that is normal. Hopefully she will have a family that is sakinah, mawaddah, warahmah (filled with peace, love and compassion),” he said.
On Monday afternoon, Bobby’s mother, Ade Hanifah Siregar, was present at the Graha Saba Buana to take part in the general rehearsal for ijab kabul (solemnization of the marriage). Ade looked happy. She was ready to follow all stages of the ceremony. "Hopefully, everything will go smoothly," she said.
Gibran was also at the general rehearsal. Gibran, bearing a flag bearing the name Chilli Pari, the wedding and catering service business he established, had prepared everything, from the catering to guest invitations, to the wedding makeup and other technical matters. As for the reception menu, Chilli Pari has prepared Solo dishes such as nasi liwet, gudeng, timlo, and tengkleng. The couple’s traditional wedding makeup has been entrusted to five professional makeup artists in Solo: Endang Soendari Soemaryono, Cony Supriyanto, Sawaliyah Waloeyo, Topobroto, and Santi.
Endang Soendari Soemaryono, an 80-year-old makeup artist, will be responsible for Kahiyang and Bobby. The other four makeup artists will take care of President Jokowi and Bobby’s extended family.
According to Endang, the bride and groom will be made up in the Surakarta classical style, in line with the traditional Javanese wedding. Before applying the makeup, she will conduct a kind of private ritual to ensure that her work would go smoothly.
The people of Solo heartily welcome the wedding, and have installed 10 penjor (traditional wedding poles made of young coconut leaves) on Jl. Slamet Riyadi. The wedding poles mark the way to the ceremony. ”This is to welcome the mantu ceremony held by Pak Jokowi,” said Haristanto, who will lead the activity.
The community traders of Pasar Legi Market, Solo, also held a kenduri get-together at Pasar Gede market in on Monday. The get-together was held to pray that the ceremony would run smoothly. Dozens of traders and workers gathered to celebrate with a nasi tumpeng (traditional cone-shaped yellow rice), with dishes of vegetables and traditional condiments.
After the prayer, the traders and workers ate together using pincuk (banana leaves used as eating utensils). "This is a spontaneous idea of the Pasar Legi community. We worked together to prepare the gathering," said Marsono, chief of Pasar Legi.
Karmi, 58, a Pasar Legi market trader who took part in the event, hoped that Kahiyang and Bobby would be blessed with happiness and wealth. ”Hopefully, they will have a child, too,” he said.
(NDY)