Sungkeman Ritual
The new-to-become-mother shall greet her parents devotedly in a special way. She shall give Sungkeman or ngabekti to her parents.
It is a respectful greeting performed with the palms together, fingertips upwards while the two thumbs are touching the nose. The parents are sitting
like king and queen on a chair. The new-to-become-mother shall come forward and kneel to kiss the right knee of her mother and her father. Her nose touches
slightly the right knee, both her handpalms are on top of the knee. While doing this, she says:
"I give you my blessing, I kindly apologize for my mistakes and I request for your blessings."
Dressing-up the would-be mother
The would-be mother is dressed up with batik cloths by elder mothers. Six kinds of batik pattern and one lurik pattern: all patterns have their own good wishes for the family and the baby, like:
Ksatrian: responsible fighter;
Wahyu Tumurun: heaven's revelation to live in honorable position;
Sidomukti: to live prosperously;
After each shower, she changes her cloths and wears a different batik pattern. The seventh and last cloth will be the lurik (traditional woven cloth) cloth, the pattern is Lasem.
Lurik Lasem is describing the merge of two loves, it should last for a long time (lurik is a simple material, but it is strong).
So that is how the life of the family should be.
