Here Are Some Cultures In West Java That Will Amaze You! (Article by Neng Anis Lidiawati, 1730911013)

What will you think when you hear 'Indonesia'? Some of you may think that Indonesia has lots of cultures, has lots of food, has lots of tourist attraction, has lots of friendly people, etc. Some of you may already know that Indonesia has 34 provinces and one of them is West Java. West Java is bounded by the province of Central Java to the east, the Indian Ocean to the south, the province of Banten to the west, the special capital district of Jakarta to the northwest, and the Java Sea to the north. The capital of West Java is Bandung. West Java is famous for its diverse culture. Some of them are the language, puppet show, traditional dance and traditional clothing.

We all know that every country or region has their own local language. Same as West Java, the local language of West Java is called as Sundanese language. This language is very unique because Sundanese has a more complex structure than English. When we talk to the older ones, we must use the soft language. It's totally different from English, the conditions do not change when talking to the older people. Here's some example of Sundanese language:

"Bapak bade tuang moal?" (Dad, do you want to eat?).

"Abdi mah hoyong neda" (I want to eat).

"Urang mah hayang dahar, maneh arek dahar moal?" (I want to eat, do you want to eat?).

Those are some example of Sundanese language, 'tuang, neda, dahar' means 'eat'. We should use 'tuang' when we talk to the older ones (that shows courtesy), we use 'neda' when we talk to the older ones also but it used for ourselves, and we use 'dahar' when we talk to people of the same age and for ourselves. Here's another example of Sundanese that very unique:

1. English = A little chair made from woods 

Sundanese = Jojodog

2. English = People who have thought more mature than their age 

Sundanese = Kokolot begog

3. English = Falling forward and may hit own face 

Sundanese = Tikusruk

Now, you find that Sundanese is very unique and simple, right? Not only the language which very unique, the accent is very unique too. Sundanese accent is the most flexible because when some of Sundanese people speak English, we won't show sundanese accent. Actually there are many uniqueness in Sundanese, but this time I just explain some of the uniqueness.

Another culture in West Java is puppet show. Puppet show is a performance staged with puppets with the dialogue or music provided by a puppeteer (the one who play the puppet). There are several variations of puppet, there's one which made from wood and there's one which made from leather. The one which very popular in West Java is wooden puppet show. There are some characters of puppet show. They are Cepot (the most famous), Dawala, Gareng, Bima, Arjuna, etc. Each character has a different nature. One of puppeteer who very famous in West Java is Asep Sunandar (the one who made Cepot). Usually, this puppet show are held at several events such as cultural festivals, da'wah, graduation day, etc.

The next one is traditional dance in West Java. West Java has lots of traditional dance, one of them is jaipong. Jaipong is the most popular traditional dance in West Java. Jaipong dance is a combination of several traditional arts such as pencak silat, wayang golek, ketuk tilu and others. This dance is often played at various events such as welcoming guests, cultural festivals, graduation day, etc. Historically, jaipong dance was created by an artist named H. Suanda from Karawang. Usually, the one who dances jaipong is a woman and they wear kebaya (traditional clothing) when performing jaipong.

The last one is traditional clothing. Every region has their own traditional clothing, same as West Java. The traditional clothing of West Java which very popular are kebaya (for women) and pangsi (for men). Kebaya is a traditional blouse made of thin material worn with sarongs, batik, or other traditional knitwear such as songket with colorful motifs. Pangsi is a clothing suit in the form of a plain shirt that is rather loose and pants that are also loose and don't exceed the ankle length.

Those are some cultures of West Java which very precious, interesting and unique. So, now you know some culture of West Java. What do you think about West Java's cultures? You can comment below.