Gamelan Mawlid in Java…

In Java, a special gamelan ceremony, historically connected to Sufism, is held each year for Mawlid un-Nabi. The video of the “sekaten” procession above gives you a taste of the meditative flavor of Javanese gamelan music, which traditionally accompanies the elaborate sekaten festivities in Yogyakarta. The sekaten ceremony is explained below in this selection from an article in the Jakarta Globe…

Gamelan sets have been handed down through generations. Many were believed to have special powers and certain sets are to this day only played on auspicious occasions, such as during the Sekaten ceremony to celebrate the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad in the palace of the sultan of Yogyakarta.

The sets used in the Sekaten ceremony are venerated not only in the way they are handled, but also in their given names: the Foremost and Venerable Honey Thunder and the Foremost and Venerable Harmonious Dragon. These sets are said to have the power to compel people to pledge the syahadatain [shahada], the bearing of witness that each Muslim must take — that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet.

The Javanese of the first Islamic sultanate in Demak pronounced the Arabic word “syahadatain” as “sekaten.” The Sekaten ceremony to this day is still the main celebration held annually by the sultan, believed to be blessed by the wali, or [Sufi] saints, who spread the word of Islam in Java. The gamelan instruments played during the celebration have become a symbol of a valuable legacy for building and maintaining community values and resilience…