Indonesia celebrates national Batik Day each year in appreciation and admiration of the art of coloring clothing and other textiles via the Indonesian batik method, which has been recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage culture. In this article, you’ll learn more about what the unique Indonesian batik is, how Indonesians celebrate it, and why. In learning about this holiday, you’re gaining much insight into the rich culture and history of Indonesia—and we’re sure you’ll find the more familiar you are with Indonesian culture, the more fascinating the language will become!
At IndonesianPod101.com, we hope to make every aspect of your learning journey both fun and informative! We think you’ll soon agree that National Batik Day fits the bill.
1. What is Batik Day?
The commemoration of Batik Day in Indonesia is still new; it was stipulated by the President in 2009. This stipulation was enacted once UNESCO officially admitted Indonesian Batik as a world heritage culture. UNESCO includes batik in the List of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. The stipulation of National Batik Day is a government effort to increase the Indonesian nation’s dignity and its positive image in international forums, and to grow the pride and love of the society for Indonesian culture.
Batik is a textile coloring technique using wax material. Most of the wax is obtained from the excretion of plants, in the form of damar (coniferous timber) or resin. Animal sources of wax include wasp and bee hives. The only batik coming from Sumatra Island is Minangkabau Batik, in which the coloring technique uses clay. The fabric is first soaked in clay for a week, then it is washed and other natural colors from plants are applied.
Batik Pekalongan has now been recorded by the Guiness Book as the biggest batik. It is made on a fabric 1,000 meters long and worked by 1,000 batik artisans on the main highway of Pekalongan City.
2. When is Batik Day in Indonesia?
Each year, Indonesians celebrate Batik Day on October 2.
3. Batik Day Celebrations & Traditions
On National Batik Day, Indonesia holds various annual batik festivals in several provinces. One of the most famous programs is Festival Batik Solo (Solo Batik Festival) that is in the form of a batik parade on the main street of the city.
This Batik Day Indonesia activity, which began in 2008, had approximately 250 instant models participating, parading a distance of 4.2 kilometers (about two and a half miles) wearing various batik creations. Batik patterns are not only painted on fabrics, but also on everything from tarps, nets, papers, CDs, plastic glasses, balloons, and chicken feathers. Batik Day celebrated in Indonesia is certainly a colorful and intriguing spectacle!
4. What Does Batik Mean?
Do you know the meaning of the word batik?
The word batik comes from the Javanese word amba, which means “writing,” and titik, which means “dot.” In other words, membatik is writing a series of dots to form a beautiful pattern.
5. Essential Vocabulary for Batik Day in Indonesia
Here’s the vocabulary you’re going to need for Batik Day in Indonesia!
- Hari Batik — “Batik Day”
- Kebudayaan — “Culture”
- Malam — “Wax”
- Karnaval Batik Solo — “Solo Batik Carnival”
- Pameran batik — “Batik exhibition”
- Peragaan busana batik — “Batik fashion show”
- Lomba membatik — “Batik-making contest”
- Desain — “Design”
- Kerajinan — “Handicraft”
- Canting — “Canting”
- Batik cap — “Batik cap“
To hear each of these vocabulary words pronounced, visit our Batik Day vocabulary list. Here, you can find each vocabulary word accompanied by an audio file of its pronunciation, and with a relevant image.
How IndonesianPod101 Can Teach You About Indonesian Culture
Isn’t Batik Day a differently fun holiday? Does your country have a holiday celebrating a unique aspect of its culture and heritage? Let us know about it in the comments below; we always look forward to hearing from you!
To continue learning about Indonesian culture and the language, explore IndonesianPod101.com! We provide an array of fun and effective learning tools for every learner, at every level:
- Insightful blog posts on an array of cultural and language-related topics
- Free vocabulary lists covering a range of topics and themes
- Podcasts and videos to improve your listening and pronunciation skills
- Mobile apps to learn Indonesian anywhere, on your own time
- Much, much more!
If you’re interested in a more one-on-one approach, be sure to upgrade to Premium Plus. Doing so will give you access to your own Indonesian teacher who will help you develop a learning plan tailored to your needs and goals. Yes, really!
We know that learning Indonesian isn’t always easy, but we believe that your hard work and determination really will pay off in the long run. And IndonesianPod101 will be here with you on your language-learning journey with fantastic lessons and constant support.
