Blessings from Celebration of President\'s Daughter
It was not just the family of Jokowi who were happy but also local residents who were invited to the wedding rituals.
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·4 minutes read
Kompas/Wisnu Widiantoro
President Joko Widodo and First Lady Iriana, together with two of their children, daughter in-law and grandchild, kick off a wedding ritual by installing bleketepe and tuwuhan at his residence in Sumber, Banjarsari district, Surakarta, Central Java, on Tuesday (7/11). The wedding ceremony of the President\'s daughter, Kahiyang Ayu, and M. Bobby Afif Nasution will be held on Wednesday.
The wedding of the daughter of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, Kahiyang Ayu, and Muhammad Bobby Afif Nasution, reached its peak on Wednesday (8/11). It was not just the family of Jokowi who were happy but also local residents who were invited to the event. Food and souvenir sellers were also happy as they could enjoy good fortune.
Triyanto, 34, a kupat tahu seller near the Graha Saba Buana building, Solo, where the reception was held, took a rest near his cart. He briefly sighed after serving customers. Over the last three days, his kupat tahu sold well due to the many people coming to the building to arrange Kahiyang and Bobby\'s wedding. "Usually I sell 200 portions per day, but lately it has reached up to 400 portions," he said.
He hired two extra workers to help serve customers. Triyanto was grateful be blessed with good fortune from the busy preparations for the Kahiyang-Bobby wedding. One portion served with ice tea sold for Rp 10,000, so his sales reached Rp 4 million per day.
Good fortune was also enjoyed by Mintorogo, 49, a Risang Aji glassware maker in Kestalan, Banjarsari, Solo. He received an order for 500 glass boxes. Jokowi\'s family ordered the glass boxes as party favors. They were hexagon and quadrangle in shape and had motives of aqualet, leaves and flora. Mintorogo explained that they were jewelry boxes.
Mintorogo said the order was initially much higher. However, as he was not able to produce so many within one month and so the order ended up being for only 500 boxes. He could not produce more because he only employs only six people. "I want to maintain quality, moreover this is for the wedding of the daughter of Pak Jokowi," he said. Mintorogo said the prices of the boxes were between Rp 50,000 and Rp 175,000.
Pleasure was also expressed by wedding invitees. One of Kahiyang\'s schoolmates at state elementary school SD Mangkubumen Kidul 16, Solo, Dwinita Riani, 26, did not expect to be invited because she had not seen Kahiyang for three years.
Dwinita said she would never forget doing math homework with Kahiyang and three other friends in Kahiyang\'s house when they were fifth graders. "At that time he (Jokowi) was at home, greeting us and inviting us to have lunch before doing our homework," she said.
She saw Kahiyang as a super friendly, humble and cheerful figure. Even though Kahiyang initially seemed quiet, after knowing her it was fun to be friends and play together.
Suparto, a tailor who lives in Cinderejo Lor kampong, Gilingan subdistrict, Banjarsari, was also happy to be invited. He was impatient to attend the wedding reception with his wife on Wednesday evening. "I\'m glad that he remembers me, a poor soul like me," he said.
Traditional wedding rituals were conducted on Tuesday (7/11) morning, such as installing bleketepe (plaited coconut leaves) at the gate of the house. Besides bleketepe, there was also tuwuhan, which consisted of various produce, such as bananas, paddy, sugarcane and beringin leaves. During the rituals, Jokowi was accompanied by First Lady Iriana, their eldest son Gibran Rakabuming Raka and his wife Selvi Ananda, grandson Jan Ethes Srinarendra and youngest son Kaesang Pangarep.
Other rituals were sungkeman and siraman. The siraman ritual was carried out by Kahiyang and Bobby separately. Kahiyang was in the house of Jokowi, while Bobby was in the Alila Hotel, where his parents are staying in Solo. During the sungkeman ritual, Jokowi said he had advised his daughter to be patient about starting a family. "Be careful in building a family, be patient," Jokowi said.
In the evening, the midodareni ritual was held, attended by thousands of Jokowi volunteers. The wedding ceremony was held on Wednesday at Graha Saba Buana. Leaving the house for the wedding venue, Kahiyang rode in a decorated carriage pulled by two horses. Four horse carriages were used to transport Jokowi and his family from his residence in Sumber.
Four other carriages transported Bobby and his parents from the Alila Hotel to Graha Saba Buana. As soon as they arrived at the building, the wedding ceremony was held. Vice President Jusuf Kalla and Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution acted as witnesses. The ceremony was followed by the panggih procession and a reception.
The ceremony was attended by 7,000-8,000 guests. Pedicab drivers were charged with transporting guests from two parking areas, namely Sumber and Banyuanyar fields, to Graha Saba Buana.
The coordinator of the Becak Solo Family Communication Forum, Sardi Ahmad, said 50 pedicab drivers transported guests. This is a form of mangayubagyo (celebrating) the wedding of the daughter of President Jokowi. "Pak Jokowi is close to pedicab drivers in Solo, so we are happy to help. We aren\'t charging guests for the service," he said.
