BHINDZ

There are something uniqueness in javanese ied’s celebration. In this tradition, “halal bihalal” in a big family is called “sungkeman”. It’s usually held just in close relatives. The purpose of this tradition is for asking for forgiveness among the relatives. “Sungkeman” is not only done by shaking hand and saying forgiveness, but also should follow some procedures as below:

#”sungkem” is done sequencially based on relative’s age.
In example, if there are grandpa, grandma, elder aunt, younger uncle, elder aunt’s son, and younger uncle’s son; then the sequence of “sungkeman” are:
- elder aunt is “sungkem” to grandpa, then to grandma
- younger uncle is “sungkem” to grandpa, then to grandma, then to elder aunt.
- elder aunt’s son is “sungkem” to grandpa, then to grandma, then to elder aunt, then to younger uncle.
- those procedure should be done iterativelly until all relatives have met.

#How to do sungkeman?
When we do “sungkeman”, we should bow our head into elder relative’s knees, then asking for forgiveness like below:
“Ngaturaken sugeng riyadi, nyuwun pangapunten atas sadaya kalepatan kula, nyuwun pangestunipun”
which means
“happy ied’s day, please forgive all of my mistakes if any, and please give your blessing”.
Those sentences is usually replied by some blessings from elder relatives and get “amin” by the younger. And ofcourse, all of the sentences should be said using an appropriate javanese language level based on his/her age.

#Angpau (optional)
Angpau is a gift of money in an envelope. Angpau is usually gave by employed relatives to unemployed relatives after finishing “sungkeman”. Even a relative is old enough but he/she still doesn’t have any job, he/she may get angpau. Even a relative is too young but he/she has a job, then he/she may give angpau and don’t have to get any angpau.

After those sungkeman in families are done, “halal bihalal” tradition continues to the neighbour. Then javanese people can continue celebrating ied’s day by having a lebaran foods and laughing together with their big family. Seems fun right?