A brief introduction into Indonesia’s heritage: Kain Batik Truntum

Kain Batik Truntum short descriptions and introductions for B E R M A K N A 's first article of the week by Atikadhyah

Indonesia is an archipelagic country of 17,000 to 18,000 islands (8,844 named and 922 permanently inhabited) stretching along the equator in South East Asia that has been around since 1000 year ago proven by many fossils of the ancient primitive cave people. Within the area of 1,904,569 km2 is populated by peoples of various migrations, creating a diversity of cultures, ethnicities, and languages. Within more than thousands of cultural backgrounds like different ethnicities, tribes, religions the cultures and the values kept growing and developing and hereditarily and been passed on for generations to generations that leads to various Indonesian heritages.

Indonesia is a very rich country when it comes to heritage and values. Started from daily life ethics and cultural norms to very sacred cultural ceremonies with deep and meaningful values and stories behind them. And one of many of the Indonesian heritage that has the deep and meaningful story is Kain Batik Truntum. Kain Batik truntum etymologically was inspired by the Javanese word of tumaruntum / teruntum–tuntum which means to grow and bloom once more just like flowers in the spring time.

“ Etymologically was inspired by the Javanese word of tumaruntum / teruntum–tuntum which means to grow and bloom once more just like flowers in the spring time. "

Batik truntum pattern has poise, elegance and simple. Patterned like a scattered of small abstract flowers, or resembling the jasmine flowers. Sometimes it's shaped like a star-scattered in the beautiful night sky. Adjudge from the shape, of course it takes a very long time and patience to illustrates and mem-batik the truntum motif on a piece of fabric like silk, cotton or viscose with tjanting and malam wax. The truntum motif portrays flowers that looks like a rectangular form from the front. and the motifs usually use black as a base or background colour in each kain batik.

Behind the story of kain batik Truntum,

the reality lies behind that love is not always going strong and sometimes just like beautiful flowers, love can wither and weaken to death. And that is what happened in the early history of the discovery of this kain batik truntum.

Around 1749-1788, a royal couple of Surakarta named Ratu Kencana and Sunan Pakubuwana III was happily married and loved each other with their sincere hearts but one day Ratu Kencana cannot conceive a child and the king was busy with his life so their love has worn out and wilted. Sunan Pakubuwana decided to get a divorce with her when Ratu Kencana was still in madly in love with the king. The blue and sorrowful Kencana went out to mem-batik to heal her broken heart and to pray to God for their love to grow back like it was before and blooms back just like flowers. She wanted her love to be more sincere, eternal and a happy ending. While she was mem-batik she was stargazing, and admiring the beautiful starry night and the star's flicker that accompanies her loneliness. And from the starry skies, she had an inspiration for the motifs to be stellular and star-like following the dark skies as the background to portrays the dark sky.

After a long time, the king found his empress was making a beautiful kain batik. Day after day, the king noticed Kencana's new kain projects and also saw her beauty once more while she sat down under the dark starry sky. Slowly, the king began to have feelings affection that reappeared to Kencana that more sincere and stronger than before. After that, Kencana and the King got back together happily. That is why many call the truntum a symbol of the king's love that blossomed again.

To this day, kain batik truntum motif holds the meaning of loyalty, we could find it in traditional wedding ceremonies such as midodareni and panggih, both in Yogyakarta and Solo. Kain Batik Truntum is wore by the bride in midodareni and panggih ceremonies and at wedding celebrations for the parents of the bride and groom. Because it brings a message and hope: that later the bride and groom can live a harmonious and long-lasting and eternal relationship and love.