Mepe Kasur is made by the indigenous people of Banyuwangi (Osing) ahead of Eid al-Adha, (Photo: Special/Suaraindonesia.co.id).
BANYUWANGI, Suaraindonesia.co.id – Every time we enter the month of Hajj or before Eid al-Adha, Banyuwangi has a unique tradition every year.
In Kemiren Village, Glagah, Banyuwangi, for example, Residents from the Osing tribe were busy taking out mattresses from their rooms and taking them to the front of their homes. They then dry the mattress which has a uniform color, namely red and black.
Mepe Mattress Tradition (drying the mattress) along the road in Kemiren Village is a series of routine annual clean-up activities for local villages every month of Dzulhijjah. This ritual is carried out from morning until noon.
Thousands of uniformly colored mattresses are lined up to dry in front of residents' houses. Occasionally residents can be seen cleaning dust from mattresses by hitting them with rattan threshers.
Residents of the Sukosari neighborhood, Kemiren tells the meaning behind the color of the mattress. Mbah Ning said that the color red means brave, and black means lasting.
“The color red and black has a bold and lasting meaning. For example, in marriage you have to be brave and persistent in carrying it out,” said Mbah Ning, Thursday (22/06/2023).
Meanwhile, the Kemiren Traditional Leader, Suhaimi, admitted that residents from the Osing tribe think that mattresses are considered objects that are very close to humans so they must be cleaned so that the dirt on the mattress is removed.
“The process of drying the mattress takes place from morning until mid-afternoon. As soon as the sun rises, The mattresses were immediately dried in the sun in front of each house while they read prayers and sprinkled flower water in the yard. The goal is to keep away from disaster and disease,” said Suhaimi.
After the sun is directly above your head or around o'clock 12.00 WIB, all the mattresses were rolled back and put in. It is said that if you don't put it in immediately until sunset, The cleanliness of this mattress will be lost and its efficacy in eliminating disease will not be successful.
“If it arrives in the afternoon, the benefits will decrease. Especially if it's late at night. It could be unhealthy,” concluded Suhaimi.
These red and black mattresses are indeed similar. However, what is different is the size of the mattress. If it gets thicker, shows that the owner is someone from that village.
Every house or family is guaranteed to have a similar mattress. This is because, Every married family must have a mattress made by their parents.
After putting the mattress into each house, Using residents also continue the village's clean tradition with barong processions. Barong is paraded from Ujung Village to the final boundary of the village. After the Barong procession, The Using community continues their pilgrimage to the grave of their great-grandfather Cili, who the community believes is the guardian of the village.
The peak, when residents together held a Tumpeng Sewu celebration at night. All the residents took out the typical tumpeng from Using residents, namely pecel pitik aka grilled chicken with grated coconut. The special feature of this event is that torches are lit in front of each resident's house fence.
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| herald | : Muhammad Nurul Yakin |
| Editor | : Irqam |
