Grebeg Suro Cultural Rituals in Ponorogo Regency are not only of concern to the people of Indonesia, but also to the world. The Coordinator of the Desk of the Non-Government Organization (NGO) Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) was enthusiastic about the process of welcoming 1 Suro.
The initiator of the development and cooperation of Japanese cultural education also witnessed the Heritage Carnival from the Batoro Katong Cemetery Complex to the Regent’s Office Complex.
JICA’s NGO Desk Coordinator staff Makiko said that as a culture-based city, Ponorogo does have its own charm to attract tourists. Starting from the unique art of Reog Ponorogo to the series of Grebeg Suro rituals.
“Culture is alive, the people really care for the continuity of this culture from time to time. Really unique and interesting. It is worthy enough to be a tourist destination,” he said after witnessing the Heritage Kirab procession, Tuesday (7/8/2023).
Makiko admitted that she was surprised to see the cultural splendor displayed by Ponorogo in welcoming the Javanese New Year 1 Suro. This was an unforgettable experience for the team, and an encouragement to seriously build cooperation between Japan and Ponorogo in the field of educational culture.
“If we don’t go to Ponorogo, we don’t know how magnificent the culture of Grebeg Suro and Reog is too. This is an extraordinary experience for us. And it is the most unique city in Indonesia,” he wrote.
Ponorogo Regent Sugiri Sancoko said he was happy that this year’s Grebeg Suro had attracted the attention of tourists. In every performance event, quite a lot of people come. This makes the application effort to provide cultural performances to the people of Ponorogo not in vain.
“First, the Covid-19 pandemic is over, apart from that, we provide a lot of value. For example, we give cities a velue, we polish them. Then Reog said, give an edit value, for example, we bring it to Unesco. We will also build museums. So that it has more value. Our economy is growing, so it will be busy this year,” he said.
Despite the success of holding Grebeg Suro, he asked for 1 Suro this year, or I Muharam in the Islamic calendar, to be a moment of self-introspection. Evaluate what we have done last year, so that it can be better in the next year. “The momentum of our joint evaluation and introspection over last year. In the future it can be even better, and provide benefits to others,” he concluded. Adv/Man
