[caption id="attachment_109338" align="aligncenter" width="538" caption="Mangkunegaran Performing Arts 2011 - The Majesty of Javanese Culture. Photo by Sonny Hendrawan Saputra"][/caption]
Once again, Pura Mangkunegaran Surakarta successfully showed to the world the majesty of Javanese culture in the evening of May 20, 2011. The palace surrounded by four streets (Ronggowarsito, Kartini, Teuku Umar, and Siswa) conducted the third Mangkunegaran Performing Arts in its spacious hall by delivering four traditional dances born and develop by Mangkunegaran itself. This glorious night was not only attended by Indonesian viewers, but also art lovers and tourists such as from Japan, United States of America, Poland, Romania, Thailand, and Czech Republic. The evening was celebratory, impressive, and memorable. Thus, it made the audiences could enjoy from the beginning until the end of the show.
I will not be in hurry and straight to the point to tell the story of those dances. I will deliver step by step by showing you the atmosphere around Mangkunegaran before and during the performance. Okay, let's follow me to enjoy it.
[caption id="attachment_109352" align="aligncenter" width="483" caption="Being welcomed by classical gate of Pura Mangkunegaran; reminding the grandeur Javanese kingdom in the past. Photo by Sonny Hendrawan Saputra"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_109340" align="aligncenter" width="666" caption="The hall of Mangkunegaran Palace with some of its ornaments. Photo by Sonny Hendrawan Saputra"][/caption]
The performance was started at 7 pm, but I decided to come earlier to catch the view and ambiance of Mangkunegaran's classical beauty and I think it would be good to raise the mood of observing the detail of event. First of all, I was greeted by the old big gate that gives the nuance of grandeur of Javanese kingdom that was very powerful in the past. Passing the gate, I felt a little peace after seeing the reflection of torches from the small pretty pond straight in front of Mangkunegaran's hall. Many people had come before the event started and several of them chose to sit in the edge of the pond by having conversation, taking picture, or just being in silence to observe the architectures of buildings in Mangkunegaran complex that might not be watched by them before. I did not choose to stop moving on by sitting there, but I made up my mind to explore the hall in detail and anything on it. It was very easy to me and my friends to give first comment about Mangkunegaran: green and yellow. Yes, Mangkunegaran has official colours yellow and green which is commonly called as pareanom. Pareanom comes from the word pare or pari which means rice and word anom which means young. Simply, it has philosophical meaning of prosperity and glory. Other stuff that I could see in the hall is several ornaments with shining golden colour like lion statues and chandeliers. Many sets of gamelan were arranged  tidily in every sides of the wall. Gamelan would be used as live instrument during the dances performed.
[caption id="attachment_109351" align="aligncenter" width="269" caption="Bloggers did registration - 50 bloggers were specially invited to write article about Mangkunegaran Performing Arts. Photo by Eryne Cahyasa"][/caption]
The situation became more festive when 50 finalists of blogging competition came. They were chosen from hundred participants in the first adjudication to make article in their blog about Mangkunegaran Performing Arts. Â It was conducted for enlivening the National Information Week in which Solo was the 2011 host city for that annual event. Â They got special invitation from the Department of Communication and Informatics of Solo city to attend that evening occasion.
[caption id="attachment_109339" align="aligncenter" width="666" caption="Foods with Javanese taste: kroket, risoles, lemper, sosis basah, and ledre. Photo by Sonny Hendrawan Saputra"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_109353" align="aligncenter" width="666" caption="The Royal Menus of King Mangkunegara I. Photo by Sonny Hendrawan Saputra"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_109354" align="aligncenter" width="555" caption="The Royal Menu of King Mangkunegara IV. Photo by Sonny Hendrawan Saputra"][/caption]
Other thing that I liked while I waited the performance was enjoying traditional food of Solo. The food bazaar which was located in the western part of the hall sold Javanese taste of food including sosis basah, kroket, ledre, risoles, and lemper. Plus, there were traditional beverages like beras kencur and kunir asam. However, something that could be the most interesting for the people who come to try the foods were the royal menu of Mangkunegaran Kings. Off course, those menu would not be easily found in daily life in Solo. Those royal menu sold were ketan srikaya, pondoh, apem which were popularized during the era of King Mangkunegara I and podang tape, lodoh pindang, nasi pulen during the era of King Mangkunegara IV. Do you feel those are still not enough? If you think so, there were still many other menu sold like sate kere (satay from soybean dreags) and wedang ronde (hot beverage with balls made from the blend of glutinous rice flour, ginger, lemon grass, and sugar).
Gambyong Pareanom Dance
[caption id="attachment_109343" align="aligncenter" width="549" caption="The elegant beauty from 7 dancers of Gambyong Pareanom Dance. Photo by Eryne Cahyasa"][/caption]
