Javanese Language, Literature, and Culture student of 2024 batch, Ghibran Arsha Daffa (NIM 24/543974/SA/23427) or familiarly called Ghibran, made it to the final stage in the Dimas-Diajeng contest of the Special Region of Yogyakarta. Dimas-Diajeng itself is the term for a pair of male and female teenagers who are officially appointed as DIY tourism ambassadors. For men, it is called Dimas, and for women, it is called Diajeng. The selection of Dimas-Diajeng is under the auspices of the Tourism Office. Meanwhile, the most important task of Dimas-Diajeng itself is to promote tourism and culture in their respective regions.

To start Dimas-Diajeng's journey, Ghibran went through file selection, semifinals, psychological tests, deep interviews, then entered the final stage consisting of 15 men and 15 women. After the file selection stage, participants were given the task of creating video content about promoting tourist attractions in the city of Jogja and Ghibran chose to discuss Pasar Ngasem, which turned out that no one of the other participants chose that topic.

If selected and crowned as Dimas, Ghibran must be a representative of the dynamic and cultured youth of Jogja and actively participate in tourism promotion activities.

In the process, one of the things Ghibran remembers most is when collecting files because Ghibran collected the files 7 minutes before the registration deadline. This is because Ghibran actually intended to register for Dimas-Diajeng Bantul City, but it turned out that this year it was not going to be held. Therefore, Ghibran immediately prepared himself in a short time to register for Dimas-Diajeng Jogja City.

In addition, in the process of making video content, Ghibran found things that moved and impressed him. One of them was when he met a grandmother selling traditional toys. Ghibran said that even though her merchandise was quiet, the grandmother looked happy when she was invited to interview. According to the grandmother, she had been selling toys since she was little. The grandmother also prayed for Ghibran so that his steps would be smooth in undergoing the Dimas-Diajeng contest.

After the final, the Top 3 Dimas-Diajeng will be selected to represent the city of Jogja in the election of Dimas-Diajeng Yogyakarta Province. So if Ghibran is selected in the Top 3 list, Ghibran must compete again in Dimas-Diajeng Yogyakarta province.

However, even though Ghibran will be busy with Dimas-Diajeng activities in the city of Jogja, Ghibran still wants to contribute as a student in the Javanese Language, Literature, and Culture study program at UGM, one of which is in the field of storytelling. Ghibran intends to take part in a national-level storytelling competition, or even a monologue.

Ghibran's hope for the future is that this Dimas-Diajeng program can help and educate many people, especially in the field of tourism. Let's pray that all of Ghibran's goals and aspirations will be achieved!

Noviyanti Alfitri (NIM 24/533646/SA/22795), a 2024 student from the Javanese Language, Literature, and Culture study program, inaugurated as a Diajeng Gunungkidul 2025 at the end of February. Diajeng is a representation of a young woman from a regency—in this case, Gunungkidul Regency—specifically in the field of tourism. Usually Diajeng is paired with Dimas (as a representation of youngman). They promote nature and culture-based tourism in their district and become icons for young people.

The selection process for the Dimas-Diajeng icon began in December 2024. Starting from the selection of files and administration, written selection, interview selection, then the announcement of 15 finalists who were quarantined, and officially crowned on the coronation night on February 22, 2025.

As the holder of the title Diajeng Gunungkidul, Noviyanti or who is familiarly called Upik has the main responsibility of assisting in the marketing sector at the Tourism Office in promoting tourism in Gunungkidul Regency.

Not the coronation night, according to Upik, the most memorable experience during the Dimas-Diajeng selection process was during quarantine. During the quarantine period, Upik gained a lot of knowledge ranging from tourism, culture, regional specialties, public speaking, and others. This increased Upik's knowledge and Upik learned a lot of new things during the quarantine period.

In addition to the most memorable moments, Upik also said that she had difficulty in time management. Because of the tight timeline of the selection process, Upik had to adjust her lecture schedule at UGM with her other activities. However, fortunately Upik was able to go through everything smoothly by making a priority scale.

Even though she has been named Diajeng Gunungkidul 2025, Upik realizes that she is still part of the UGM Javanese Language, Literature, and Culture students. Therefore, Upik wants to contribute a lot to her study program. She wants to do several things; become a writer or participant in the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival in Bali, become a talent or production team in the Gugur Gunung activity, and maybe take part in a competition to bring the name of the study program. In addition, Upik also has an ambition to be able to write her own anthology.

Wow, it seems like Upik has so many desires and ambitions! Hopefully, all of Upik's ambitions can be achieved smoothly without any significant obstacles. With this story, hopefully other students will also be motivated to do what they like and develop themselves even more!

On Monday, March 4, 2024, at 09.30 WITA, Dr. Arsanti Wulandari, S.S., M.Hum, a lecturer from the Javanese Language, Literature and Culture Study Program, became a speaker in a public lecture entitled ‘Philology in Javanese Manuscript Studies’. This activity was held through the Zoom Meeting platform and initiated by the Javanese Literature Study Program, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Udayana University (FIB UNUD).

In the public lecture, Dr. Arsanti Wulandari presented an introduction to philology, reviewed the concept of philology, the object of study, the tasks of philologists, and the final product produced. The presentation was equipped with examples of Javanese manuscripts and their identification, so that the audience could understand about philology more easily. The discussion session that followed provided space for participants to ask various questions, showing their high enthusiasm for the topics discussed.

Kuliah umum mengenai filologi ini diadakan sebagai respons terhadap semakin berkurangnya minat mahasiswa dalam bidang studi filologi. Meskipun demikian, saat ini pemerintah sedang serius mendorong penggalian pengetahuan dan nilai-nilai yang terkandung dalam naskah kuno. Harapannya, melalui kegiatan semacam ini, minat, dan pemahaman terhadap filologi dapat tumbuh kembali di kalangan mahasiswa.

Pentingnya memahami dan menjaga keberlanjutan pengetahuan serta nilai-nilai kebudayaan yang terdapat dalam naskah kuno menjadi fokus kuliah umum ini. Dengan memberikan bekal pengetahuan, semangat, dan menjalin kerja sama yang baik, diharapkan pengetahuan dan nilai-nilai kebudayaan pada naskah kuno dapat tetap lestari dan dapat kemudian dikembangkan sesuai dengan kebutuhan zaman. Hal ini selaras dengan tujuan pembangunan berkelanjutan, terutama dalam meningkatkan mutu pendidikan (poin 4) dan memperkuat kerja sama untuk mencapai tujuan bersama (poin 17).

No less than other well-known study programs, it turns out that being a student of Javanese Language, Literature, and Culture can also carry pride and inspire other people around! For example, Dian Nitami (Dian) and Miktahul Ulumudin (Ulum) below. Both are students majoring in Javanese Language, Literature, and Culture, class of 2023 and 2024.

Dian and Ulum were invited to the annual Campus Expo event held by the MAN 1 Tulungagung alumni association, through the Tulungagung Student Communication Forum (FKMT). This Campus Expo was held on Wednesday, January 15, 2025 at MAN 1 Tulungagung. Like Campus Expo events in general, here Dian and Ulum are in charge of educating and sharing experiences about being UGM students. They discussed topics around UGM entrance selection, college fee education, KIP scholarships, and a glimpse of UGM itself.

The Campus Expo itself was attended by 1st - 3rd year, but the seminar session was specifically attended by 3rd year where the class was certainly preparing for the exam to enter college. Dian was invited to be one of the speakers because she was one of the lucky students who had the opportunity to study at UGM with funding assisted by a scholarship. So at this event Dian gave a testimonial that scholarships at UGM are very open to students from any entrance selection path.

From Dian and Ulum's point of view, MAN 1 Tulungagung students were certainly very happy because they could meet their seniors who were studying at UGM. Then the impressive occasion was when the speakers entered, they were greeted with the Pionir celebration song with the enthusiasm of Mantasa (the name for MAN 1 Tulungagung students) overflowing. Even in the closing session, it was enlivened again by the Pionir celebration dance so that this indicated that MAN 1 Tulungagung students were really enthusiastic about participating in this seminar session.

For Dian, the impression gained from this experience was a sense of joy because this was the first time Dian had the opportunity to be a speaker who of course could educate and motivate the MAN students.

With this valuable story from Dian and Ulum, it is hoped that this can be an inspiration for other student to always be able to provide benefits and spread positive enthusiasm to people around them, that being part of the family of Javanese Language, Literature, and Culture students is a pride and not less cool than other majors.

Excerpted in full from: hystoryana.blogspot.com

Philology, as the study of manuscripts and classical texts, plays an important role in preserving the cultural and historical heritage of a nation. One of the interesting aspects of philology is the effort to understand and translate manuscripts, which means transforming ancient texts from their original format to new forms that are more accessible and easier to learn, such as in the form of illustrated stories, batik cloth, and so on.

Paleography is a scientific discipline that studies the character of ancient writings in manuscripts. As a science that supports the specialization of Philology, Paleography is a compulsory course for the Language, Literature and Culture Study Program.

On Friday, December 6, 2024 the Javanese Language, Literature and Culture Study Program held an exhibition initiated by the lecturers of the Philology course, Dr. Sri Ratna Saktimulya M.Hum,. and Dr. Arsanti Wulandari M.Hum,. The exhibition involved Master of Literature students in the Philology course and the undergraduate students of Javanese Language, Literature and Culture Study Program for the Paleography course. The philological exhibition “Mengalih Wahana Naskah” aims to introduce the public to the importance of ancient manuscripts in the formation of Indonesian history and culture. The manuscripts not only serve as historical documents, but also as a means of understanding the noble values and wisdom passed down by our ancestors. This exhibition also explores how these manuscripts transformed from handwritten texts into more attractive illustrated texts and wearable batik cloth. It is a means to introduce to the public that ancient manuscripts are not just text documents, but also works of art that contain high aesthetic value.

Students of the Javanese Language, Literature and Culture Study Program in the Philology Exhibition

“Very happy to be able to organize this exhibition, previously we, the class of 2023, were asked to make batik cloth, then it will be exhibited today, it's fun to try making batik cloth and at the same time get a grade for the Final Semester Examination” said Muhammad Rizki, one of the students of the Language, Literature and Culture Study Program.

The exhibition showcased batik cloths that had previously been made by students of the Javanese Language, Literature and Culture Study Program in the Switching Workshop. The long sash batik cloths were written based on the interests of each student. There are 3 scripts that can be chosen to write the proposition sentences that have been made. Javanese script, Pegon script, and Balinese script, each has its own uniqueness and beauty. Dr. Arsanti Wulandari M.Hum, revealed that this project will be taken as the fulfillment of the Final Examination of Paleography course in 2024. There are also illustrated stories made by Master of Literature students.

Students of Javanese Language, Literature, and Culture Study Program Make  Batik for the Exhibition

It is hoped that the Philology exhibition: Alih Wahana is able to introduce many people to the existence of Philology as a useful science for life. Ancient manuscripts can be absorbed with the science of Philology to prepare for present and future life. In addition, this exhibition is one way to preserve ancient manuscripts in Javanese culture.

Thursday night (14/11/2024), the Javanese Language, Literature and Culture Study Program held a puppet show with the play Gajahmada Kridha (Ra Kuti Balela). The night was also the night of the awarding to the winners of the Temu Budaya Nusantara XXX competition, this puppet show was also held in commemoration of World Shadow Puppet Day. The puppet performance was held in Greenland, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Gadjah Mada University. Masterminded by M. Rafi Nur Fauzy, a 2023 student of the Javanese Language, Literature and Culture Study Program and in collaboration with the Surakarta Style Javanese Arts Unit (UKJGS) UGM, the Gajahmada Kridha puppet show went smoothly.

Based on an interview with Rafi, Gadjahmada Kridha (Ra Kuti Balela) tells the story of Gajah Mada's role in suppressing the rebellion of Ra Kuti, a Dharmaputra or courtier at that time. Ra Kuti's rebellion was based on dissatisfaction with King Jayanegara who was very weak and easily manipulated by his subordinates. This made some of his courtiers unhappy, including Ra Kuti. Ra Kuti wanted to restore the dignity of Majapahit at that time. However, it turned out that Ra Kuti's idea was not approved by the community so that the community considered that Ra Kuti was committing a rebellion. When Ra Kuti successfully occupied the capital, Jayanegara was escaped by Bhayangkara's troops. After strategizing, the Bhayangkara troops were able to turn the situation around and Ra Kuti died at the hands of Gajah Mada.

The rebellion carried out by Ra Kuti changed an Gajah Mada who was initially only a commander of soldiers then appointed as patih. The beginning of Ra Kuti's rebellion as Dharmaputra was caused by a divide and conquer, by Mahapati, a cunning person. He made a strategy so that all Majapahit predecessors were finished and Mahapati could steer the country, even though he did not want the position of king. Gajahmada, who knew Mahapati's guise, succeeded in making Mahapati die at the hands of Gajah Mada.

Puppet performance of Gajahmada Kridha (Ra Kuti Balela) by Rafi Nur Fauzy

There were many processes involved in writing the script for this puppet show. With the help of R. Bima Slamet Raharja, S.S., M.A., and Dr. Rudy Wiratama, S.I.P., M.A., as academics and wayang practitioners, Rafi revealed “Initially I read Negara Kertagama but there was no explicit role of Gajah Mada in it. Then in consultation with Mr. Bima and Mr. Rudy, I was advised to read comics, tutur tinular, and Pararaton.” Being able to perform his own hand-drawn sanggit is a proud and enjoyable thing for Rafi. However, unfortunately there is a lack of appreciation from the Faculty of Cultural Sciences regarding this puppet performance. It is a good first step for the Javanese Language, Literature and Culture Study Program to organize a puppet show at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, especially to introduce students and residents of Universitas Gadjah Mada to puppetry.

It is hoped that with this wayang performance, more and more students and the general public will be interested in puppetry, because basically puppets in this globalization era are more flexible, not fixated on puppetry conventions. It does not require classical wayang, but it can also be contemporary according to each taste. For the younger generation to be able to love wayang from what they find interesting, it can be from the music accompaniment, the story, and the characters. There are many life lessons that can be learned from puppetry, which can be used for later life.

Cited directly from music.youtube.com

There is a viral song or Javanese song on social media entitled “Lela Ledhung”, this song is very much performed or used as a backsound for a video. Lela Ledhung is a song created by Markasan. The song was intended by Markasan as a lullaby, which later became quite popular in the post-independence period of the Republic of Indonesia. Lela Ledung went viral because of the Yogyakarta Royal Orchestra's performance at the 2024 State Sovereignty Day Concert. Lela Ledhung, which has a pelog tune, was arranged by ML. Widyoyitnowaditro (Joko Suprayitno, S. Sn., M. Sn.) into an orchestra format nicely.

Lela Ledhung is one example of a Javanese dolanan song. Tembang dolanan Jawa is a type of traditional song that is full of cultural values. Known as songs that are often played in children's games, tembang dolanan contain deep philosophies that not only teach moral values, but also preserve local wisdom through music. Tembang dolanan is an important part of the Javanese musical tradition, involving memorable wordplay and tones. The language used in tembang dolanan is simple and easy to pronounce, referring to Winarti (2010) tembang dolanan shows several language functions as a means of communication in Javanese.

Based on Winarti's research (2010) in the Widyaparwa Scientific Journal of Language and Literature on Dolanan Song Lyrics as a Form of Javanese Language Communication, several language functions exist in the song Lela Ledhung, which is:

• - Regulatory function

  The song Lela Ledhung has a regulatory function located in the lyrics “Cep menenga aja pijer nangis” which means to tell someone, because basically this regulatory function is characterized by the use of command words.

  - Interaction function

  Interaction words are often found in dolanan songs such as greetings and questions, such as in the lyrics “Anakku sing ayu rupane” which is a greeting for her beautiful-faced child.

  - Personal function

  Personal functions usually show about themselves, for example showing beautiful traits for their own children.

  - Heuristic function

  It is the use of language to gain knowledge and is educational in nature, for example “Dadia wanita utama” and “Dadia pendekaring bangsa”.

  - Imaginative function

  Giving ideas that are imaginative and imaginary, as in the lyrics “Kae bulane ndadari kaya ndhas buta nggilani” gives the imagination that the moon is big like a buta or giant.

  - Informative Function

  Many dolanan songs use language that contains information, giving statements or explaining something. An example in the song Lela Ledhung is found in the lyrics that if you become the main person, you can raise the degree and name of your parents.

  - Poetic Function

  A song created must contain elements of beauty in it, such as the use of rhyme and certain language styles or diction, for example “Tak emban slendhang bathik kawung” followed by “Yen nangis mundhak gawe confused” has the same rhyme “ung”.

The functions in Lela Ledhung also apply to other dolanan songs. Although the language used is simple, dolanan songs have many functions and values in them, which can provide teaching and lessons for social life. With the spirit of cultural preservation, Javanese dolanan songs are not only entertainment, but also an effective medium to convey noble teachings that are still relevant for modern life today.

REFERENCE LIST

Winarti, D. (2010). Lirik Lagu Dolanan Sebagai Salah Satu Bentuk Komunikasi Berbahasa Jawa: Analisis Fungsi. Widyaparwa, 38(1), 1-12.

After successfully becoming the Princess Cultural Ambassador of Yogyakarta 2024, Kintan Dewinta Putri, a student of the Javanese Language, Literature and Culture Study Program class of 2022, continued her struggle by representing the Special Region of Yogyakarta in the Indonesian Cultural Ambassador 2024 event. The search for the 2024 Indonesian Cultural Ambassador was held on September 19-21, 2024 in the city of Surabaya, East Java.

During the four-day event, Kintan received a lot of training and workshops such as how to build personal branding and material about skin health. Many activities were carried out by Kintan together with other Cultural Ambassadors from various regions, ranging from photoshoots to city tours. “I was feeling down and overthinking not being able to bring the title, but Alhamdulillah, I was still given the trust as the 1st Runner Up of the 2024 Indonesian Cultural Ambassador,” said Kintan regarding her impression.

Kintan Dewinta Putri wearing a typical Yogyakarta Besiyaran outfit

Kintan's experiences and achievements are expected to be a motivation for students of the Javanese Language, Literature and Culture Study Program, and be able to benefit the people around both now and in the future. Kintan conveyed a message that all young people should not be ashamed to start something because success must also begin with effort. Kintan added hope that the big family of Indonesian Cultural Ambassadors will be closer, maintained solidarity and unity among the diversity of Indonesian culture.

Kintan's steps as Yogyakarta Cultural Ambassador 2024 and 1st Runner Up Indonesian Cultural Ambassador 2024 should be an example for students and the general public regarding the role of preserving local culture. Not only Cultural Ambassadors have a duty to preserve culture, but it is an obligation for all levels of society. Increasing tolerance and strengthening unity can start as a good first step.