5 History of Khitanan Traditions in Indonesia

In Indonesia, khitanan is not only religious guidance but also cultural tradition that has passed from generation to generation. As a tradition that must be done by a Moslem boy, people in Indonesia still keep and conserve that tradition well. Here are 5 history of khitanan traditions in Indonesia that still held until nowdays:

1. Aceh Tribe

Starting from the tip of Sumatera island, Aceh tribe usually hold the ceremony for khitanan tradition. This ceremony is intended to welcoming the adult phase of the boy and praying for his well-being. The ceremony is also as a ritual to drive the misfortune and other bad things away from the boy, which is a combination of Aceh tribe tradition and Islam religion.

The khitanan ceremony in Aceh tribe started with duduak niniak mamak, a discussion forum to choose the time to do khitanan and other things needed. The khitanan tradition then continues to several steps such as ba inai (dye-ing the boy’s nail), basuntiang (ceremonial by the honorable elder), mandi pucuak (bathing and cutting the boy’s hair), until the khitanan itself. After that, the boy will be protected by the young men around for 3 days, then the ceremony will be closed by giving tumpeng or cone rice.

2. Sundanese Tribe

In Sundanese tribe, the history of khitanan tradition is pretty merry and joyful because of many traditional art shows as the ceremony. The ceremony is not only to maintain the history of khitanan tradition, but also keeping the cultural tradition in Sundanese tribe. So it’s not surprising if not only the boy that will do khitanan and his family that are exciting about it, but also the people around their neighborhood that will celebrate it together.

Before khitanan, the boy will be paraded on the big lion costume called sisingaan around the neighborhood. Some of them use the trained horse called kuda renggong to parade the boy before khitanan. In the parade, they will show some attraction and matrial art such as silat. And after khitanan, there will be art shows that intended for the boy to forget the pain of his khitanan process.

3. Betawi Tribe

Betawi tribe combined traditional culture aspect and religious aspect in their khitanan tradition. Long time ago, the parents will discuss about khitanan tradition with the elders, residents around their home, as long as the boy himself. The boy who will do khitanan usually in his 7 years old and already finished his Al-Qur’an, Islamic scripture, reading.

Similar with the khitanan tradition in Sundanese tribe, the boy in Betawi tribe is also paraded in the ceremony. The boy will dressed in traditional clothing that too big for him, and called khitanan groom or in Bahasa is pengantin sunat. The boy will be paraded on the horse around the village or neighborhood, and accompanied by traditional musical such as tanjidor.

4. Tengger Tribe

The next one of 5 history of khitanan traditions in Indonesia is the khitanan tradition in Tengger tribe, Bromo, East Java. Usually before khitanan ceremony, the boy will visit his ancestor’s grave as the form of asking the permission. Then in khitanan day, the boy will be bathed and prayed by village shaman so the process will be going well.

The unique thing of khitanan tradition in Tengger tribe is cutting roaster’s comb in the same time with khitanan process itself. This ritual is believed to move the pain of the boy to the roaster so that the boy won’t feel pain in his khitanan process. After that, they will do ceremony again because in Tengger tribe there are two ceremonis of khitanan tradition. The after ceremony called piringan ceremony,that serves 7 plates containing rice, roaster, mori cloth, money, banana, coconut, and sugar.

5. Bugis Tribe

The last history of khitanan tradition in Indonesia comes from Bugis tribe, a tribe from Sulawesi; precisely in Makassar. Slighty different from other tradition mentioned above, Bugis tribe does two kind of ceremony as the khitanan tradition. They do the khitanan ceremony for boys that called massunna, also the khitanan ceremony for girls that called makkatte’. But for the khitanan process itself, both for boys and girls, Bugis tribe called it as appassunna,

The ceremony of khitanan tradition in Bugis tribe is intended to purify the children that will do khitanan process or appasunna. In this region, they also do some rituals such as bathing the children with the sacred-well water. And after the appasunna itself, Bugis tribe will hold some celebration and serve the traditional foods that originated from their region.

Those are 5 history of khitanan tradition in Indonesia that you must know. Hope this information is helpful!