National Batik Day
Every October 2, Indonesian people celebrate National Batik Day. National Batik Day itself is a celebration to commemorate the establishment of Batik as a Humanitarian heritage for Oral and Nonbendawi Culture (Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity) on 2 October 2009 by UNESCO. On this commemoration, the government usually urges the Indonesian people to wear batik.
The Origins & History of Batik
Batik is a technique of drawing motifs on cloth using canting and malam. The word 'batik' itself comes from the Javanese word “amba” which means writing and "titik” which means a dot. So, “ambatik” has the meaning of writing a dot.
The history of batik begins in the 17th century AD. At that time batik in Indonesia was still made using palm leaves and traditional house boards. Motives that existed at that time were not many, usually, batik found at that time was planted or animal-patterned.
In Indonesia, batik has been started since the time of Majapahit kingdom, this can be seen from a number of statues and stones that reflect the founder of Majapahit, Raden Wijaya who wore the kawung batik motif. At that time batik tradition was only known in the kingdom area. Batik becomes something 'noble', exclusive, and was used only by the Keraton people, such as clothes of the king, the royal family, and also the clothes of workers who work inside the Keraton. Slowly batik tradition began to spread outside the kingdom, and after that many of the people began to imitate batik.
Indonesia Broke the Record for The Largest Batik in The World
Today's batik is well known as an icon nation for Indonesia and one of the must have items for Indonesians. But did you know that Indonesia broke the record for The Largest Batik in The World?
Through the “Batik On The Road” event, Indonesia has broken the world record for the largest batik category. The record broke after the Pekalongan Batik Lovers Association was able to make 1200 square meters of batik cloth by deploying a thousand batik artisans, while at the same time completing the coloring in one day. This record was recorded in the Guinness World Records in 2005, and still exists until today.
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