Holiday Ayo - Sunda is the name of an ethnic group native to the western region of Java Island in Indonesia. The Sundanese people primarily reside in West Java.

In Sundanese culture, arts do not only contain the artistic or aesthetic elements, but also values about the moral and ethics of Sundanese people. It can be seen in one of the procession of welcoming guests in Sundanese culture. This procession is called Bubuka Ceremony.

Bubuka Ceremony is actually a chain of performance which combines various arts of Sundanese people. These performances symbolize the honor and respect that the local people give to the guests who are visiting their region.

Bubuka Ceremony is a form of entertainment as well as a tradition of showing respect to guests or visitors. Bubuka comes from the word “buka” which means open in local language, and as the name suggests, this procession is held as an opening event during celebrations that are attended by many people.

During one of the art performances of Lingkung Seni Sunda ITB, which is a unit of student from Bandung Institute of Technology engaged in Sundanese arts and culture, Bubuka Ceremony was held as the opening event.

As cited from Indonesiakaya.com, the ceremony began with someone bringing out Gunungan, which is a term for conical or triangular structure inspired by the shape of a mountain. It symbolizes the beauty of the nature in the land of Sunda.

Next, six male dancers entered the stage and danced with strong choreography, symbolizing the tough guards of Sunda Kingdom. Then, several female dancers entered the stage and started dancing in pairs with the male dancers. This symbolizes the beauty of harmony in the land of Sundanese people.

After that, a figure wearing a royal costume complete with a crown appeared on stage. This person portrayed Prabu Siliwangi or Sri Baduga Maharaja, the great king of Sunda Kingdom who is viewed as a symbol of wisdom in Sundanese culture. It seems to show the audience that the great king Siliwangi welcome them to the land of Sunda.

There is no clear rule about which arts that are performed in Bubuka Ceremony or the structure of the performance. Usually, it depends on the theme or message that they want to convey to the guests or audiences at the time.

However, most of the time, the performance will combine choreography and theatrical elements. The music used for the performance is Sundanese traditional music played with traditional instruments such as kendang, suling, rebab, kenongan, and gamelan set.