Jakarta, Aug 6 (Antara) - Tens of thousands of visitors flocked to a three-day cultural festival held to promote the tourist resort of Dieng Plateau in the districts of Banjarnegara and Wonosobo, Central Java, from Aug 4 to 6, 2017.
Dubbed as the ' Dieng Cultural Festival 2017' (DCF 2017), the annual event presented attractive agenda that provided unforgettable experience for tourists and other visitors.
The organizers, among others, included in their agenda a mountain top sunrise watch, a lampion or lantern release festival, a painting festival on 'caping gunung' traditional cone-shaped hats, and a dreadlock saving ritual.
The Dieng Plateau, which keeps high cultural values, local wisdom and historical significance, is one of most popular nature tourist destinations in Central Java.
Hence, as the local government has developed it as a tourist resort, the Dieng Plateau has attracted domestic and foreign tourists. To further promote it as a tourist resort, the local government has regularly organized the annual cultural festival.
Dieng Plateau is a marshy plateau that forms the floor of a caldera complex on the Dieng Volcanic Complex, which is located within the districts of Banjarnegara and Wonosobo in Central Java.
Referred to as 'Dieng' by Indonesians, it sits at 2 thousand meters above sea level, far from major population centers. The name 'Dieng' comes from Di Hyang, which means 'Abode of the Gods.' According to Wikipedia, part of General Sudirman's guerrilla campaign, during the Indonesian War of Independence, took place in the area.
In order to attract visitors, Head of Banjarnegara Tourism Service Dwi Suryanto said his office did not collect parking and entry fees into the tourist area in Dieng Plateau during the DFC 2017. "For certain tourism objects inside the Banjarnegara administration, visitors are granted entry free of charge as part of the efforts to promote Dieng Cultural Festival," Suryanto said on Friday (Aug 4).
During the DCF 2017, one of the favorite places for visitors is the Arjuna Temple area which was designed as the center of the festival. Moreover, not far from the Arjuna Temple area, namely about 1.6 kilometers, there is the Sekuter mountain top where visitors could climb to watch the sunrise.
Watching the sunrise on mountain tops is one of the DCF 2017 programs. Visitors climbed a number of mountain tops such as the Sikunir, the Pangonan and the Sekuter to watch the sunrise.
Sujarwo Ali, a visitor of the DCF 2017, said he came there earlier so that he could climb the Sekuter peak to get a strategic spot for enjoying the sunrise panorama. He on Sunday even ventured on climbing the Sikunir top some 7.4 kilometers from the Arjuna Temple.
The other interesting event in the Dieng Cultural Festival is the Caping Gunung (traditional cone-shaped head cover) Painting Festival. Dwi Subkhi Maulana was seen absorbed in painting a caping gunung around the Arjuna Temple during the festival on Saturday. "I am interested in painting it," 29-years old Maulana said.
The Caping Gunung Festival is one of the events during the DCF 2017. There were about 3 thousands of caping gunung head-covers provided for visitors by the organizers. The caping gunung were ready to be painted with colorful pictures on them. The committee prepares colorful brushes and paint in the festival to be used by participants to paint the paintings according to his creation.
On Saturday evening (Aug 5), some four thousand colorful lampions around the Arjune Temple were released into the air. Banjarnegara District Head Budhi Sarwono (who opened the DCF on Aug 4), Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo and other important figures attended the lampion release festival.
The Lampion Festival is the main event to mark the peak of the DCF 2017 night. Thus, visitors packed the Arjuna Temple compound which served as the center of the cultural activities. The DCF 2017 was closed on Sunday evening marked with a dreadlock cut ritual.
Considered to be part of the local wisdoms of the Dieng Plateau, the dreadlock cut ritual marked the closing of the cultural festival.
It was earlier reported that a king was expected to perform the haircut ritual. The regional government of Banjarnegara District had assured that at least 15 kings and queens across the country would attend the DCF 2017.
Head of Banjarnegara Tourism Service Dwi Suryanto told Liputan6.com on June 31 that the kings as well as kings' envoys would arrive during the run-up to the peak of the DCF when the hair-cut ritual was to be performed on nine dreadlocked Dieng children.
The kings would take part in the festival's hair-cut ritual, but they would not attend all processions as they would finish at the Arjuna Temple Complex. ***1***
(A014/f001 )(T.A014/A/A. Abdussalam/F. Assegaf) 06-08-2017 15:05:0 |
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