Siraman Ceremony
This ceremony is set on the last day (the seventh day) of the isolation or Sengkeran.
- Jasmine is smeared with rice flour in seven colors in a separate room. The rice flour is mixed with orange jasmine flower (daun kemuning), ground rice and herbs (mangir / lulur), pandan leaf (daun pandan).
- She is wearing a batik fabric (cindhe) wrapped around her.
She is taken out of her seclusion and is accompanied in this by the mother and the grandmother followed by other women (aunts and nieces). Her entry is accompanied by Javanese gamelan music. She then sits on the decorated chair. This chair is put on a bamboo mat with different types of leaves and batik fabrics.
Her sister brings a tray with two towels and stands next to Jasmine. Her cousin enters with a jug and stands next to Jasmine. In the jug there is water with 7 kinds of flowers.
The ceremony starts and Jasmine is ceremonially washed by seven people. According to the Javanese tradition, these seven perons are eldery people or people who have more life experience. The floral water is poured on the head and body (three times each) as a sign of health, as cleaning (both internally and externally), and to prevent diseases.
Each person is called by name. The first person is the mama. She takes a scoop (made of half a coconut) of water from the jug and pours it over the body and the head of Jasmine. Once this is completed, she gives Jasmine a kiss and returns to her place.
Next come the others (dad, grandmother, the two uncles, and the two aunts).
The last person (the seventh person) pours the remaining part of the water from the jug over Jasmine.
After this, Jasmine is dried with towels by the mama. She then gets dressed with a white cloth (kain putih). Jasmine stands up and returns to her room accompanied by mother and grandmother. The other supervisors also accommpany her back to the room.
When they arrive in the room, Jasmine takes off her wet clothes. She is dressed with a traditional blouse and a batik cloth in Grompol design. She sits in the middle of the room (Patanen). Her hair is done in a dot and she gets a little make up. Jasmine then drinks a traditional herbal drink.
- She drinks a bitter herbal drink (jamu godhokan).
This drink is made from young fruits of the pomegranate (delima), Javanese ginger (temulawak), lemon (jeruk purut). - She chews on fresh herbs (jamu mentah).
These herbs are a mixture of rice, bitterroot (kencur), dried leaves (trawas), turmeric root (kunyit), tamarind (asam), cinnamon (kayu manis), raw eggs.
Jasmine goes back to the living room together with the other women (mother, grandmother, aunts and nieces). All guests can then enjoy Indonesian snacks and all types of Indonesian food.
