Dugderan: A Tradition Of Welcoming Ramadan In Semarang City
Do you know Sobat Wisata? Semarang people have a Dugderan tradition to welcome the holy month of Ramadan. Quoted from http://warisankultur.kemdikbud.go.id, this tradition has existed since 1881, during the Regent of KRMT Purbaningrat. Exactly the day before Ramadan, the drum of the Kauman Grand Mosque was beaten, followed by the set off firecracker in the pavilion courtyard in Kanjengan. The drum made a "dug" sound and the firecracker made a repeated "der" sound, therefore the term Dugderan is created.
Hearing the sound of drums and firecrackers, residents gathered in the square in front of the Kauman mosque, came out Kanjeng the Regent and the Imam of the Grand Mosque to give remarks and information, one of which was about determining the start date of the fasting month. The Dugderan traditional procession consists of three agendas, the Dugderan fair, the ritual procession of the start date of the fasting announcement, and the Warak Ngendok cultural carnival. The three agendas now become a series of events in the Dugderan tradition.
Warak Ngendok has become an icon of both the Dugderan tradition and Semarang city until now. The warak ngendok is a mythological animal in the form of a goat on the legs, a dragon on the head, and a buraq on the body. Warak Ngendok comes from two words, namely warak which comes from the Arabic "Wara'" which means holy, and ngendok which mean laying eggs. These two words are then interpreted as anyone who maintains religion in the holy month of Ramadan will later get a reward on the day of Eid.
Welcoming Ramadan 1443 H (2022), the Dugderan Procession will be held on Thursday (31/3). The Semarang City Government will display the Animatronic Ngendog Warak, which is equipped with features such as shaking the head, blinking eyes, moving tail, moving mouth, sounding, and walking. The route starts from Semarang City Hall to the Semarang City Grand Mosque and ends at the Central Java Grand Mosque (MAJT) from noon to afternoon. Save the date! (Admin / processed from various sources)
