Batik Kujur as Typical Batik of Tanjung Enim, South Sumatra

Hello, Welcome to my Blog page 😊.  Do you know that Tanjung Enim City has a typical batik from its area? Do you want to know what batik is and what its history is? Well, in this blog, you will know what batik is... Come On!!!

History of Batik Kujur

Tanjung Enim is one of the areas that is famous for its traditional cloth, namely Batik Kujur. Batik Kujur as a traditional cloth is something new in the Tanjung Enim area because it has a history. In its history, Batik Kujur raises the local culture and the history of people in Tanjung Enim. Kujur is a typical weapon of the ancestors of Tanjung Enim city. The typical weapon is in the form of a spear wrapped in bamboo owned by Syeh Palawe, a disciple of Syeh Jalalludin known as Puyang Palawe. This spear became a typical historical heritage weapon by Puyang Palawe during his hustle spreading Islam and establishing the Kute Tanjungan Ayek Hening in 1316 BC. Therefore, to appreciate his services and bring back the history of society, his weapons are enshrined in traditional cloth, namely Batik with kujur motifs and their characteristics.

b.     The Uniqueness of Batik Kujur

Batik Kujur, as a typical batik of Tanjung Enim, has its uniqueness. The uniqueness of Batik Kujur can be seen in its motifs and characteristics. One of them is a spear-shaped kujur motif.  On every batik cloth, this spear-shaped kujur motif must be on the edge of the cloth.  Its typical batik kujur has historical values which are closely related to life in the local community. In addition to the kujur motif, there are several other kujur batik motifs such as tengkiang (Granary), coffee, padi ambur, bunga sepatu, bunga tanjung, bunga mawar, bunga melati, and so on. And also Typical motifs from other regions in Muara Enim Regency; for example, they have typical batik motifs called Mak Raje, Where the motifs look like boats combined with unique rectangular ornaments. The other typical motif is the Buah Gandaria motif or in English Marian-plum. That is a fruit that looks like mango and growth around Sumatera, Jawa, Kalimantan, and Ambon. To promote the uniqueness of Muara Enim Regency, they also have the Ambung and Kopi Pecah 3 motifs. Ambung is a traditional container used by people to carry their crops in the past, and Kopi Pecah 3 is used to promote specialty coffee in Muara Enim. This motif is produced from the creativity of the batik craftswomen themselves. Moreover, Batik Kujur has various color patterns that increase the beauty value of this batik itself. The colors used in its manufacturing process come from natural materials from plants. The plants that usually used are mengkudu, manggis, jengkol, gambir, and secang.  The batik patterns are also varied. In this case, each group of craftswomen can produce their patterns or designs and batik motifs through their creativity. Therefore, the results of the motifs and patterns of Batik Kujur have the value of being bold, honest, and freer. 

Tengkiang and Padi Ambur Motif

Bunga Sepatu Motif         

Bunga Tanjung Motif

Bunga Mawar Motif

Bunga Melati motif

Batik Kujur Production

Batik Kujur was first produced in 2019 on Jl. Duta, behind Bedeng Central Gang Sakura RT.04 RW. 05 Tanjung Enim. The production of Batik Kujur is carried out by the local community, especially mother households from Tanjung Enim. In producing it, Batik Kujur craftswomen formed five groups of five people each. The Batik Kujur, the diligent craftswomen group, has grown to as many as eight groups with 37 members. With more and more people producing Batik Kujur, the craftswomen can produce 15 to 100 pieces of cloth every month. For its production, Batik Kujur is sold with the following batik motifs according to its order. Like Batik Kujur with Sutera, cloth motifs have a selling value starting from 100 thousand per meter. And for other motifs, it is also sold at prices starting from 100 thousand per meter. 

For the process of making Batik Kujur, there are 4 steps in the manufacturing process:

Step One:

Prepare white cloth as the primary material. (a material cloth used by the type of cloth desired, such as the type of kain primisma, Katun Jepang, Katun semi Sutera and so on)

Step Two:

Cloth stamping process. This process is carried out by stamping a white cloth with a stamp of the cloth motif that has been available. (Such as Kujur, coffee, tengkiang (granary), padi ambur, bunga sepatu, bunga tanjung, bunga mawar, and other)

Third step:

Process coloring. In the dyeing process, there are 3 types of colors used, namely the type of naptol color, the type of indigosol color or coloring that arises due to the sun's brightness, and the third is natural coloring such as mengkudu, Manggis, jengkol, gambir, and secang.

Final steps:

The process of highlighting or color shedding.

 

With the wisdom of the local culture owned by the people of the Tanjung Enim area, it can conserve the history and the culture of the Tanjung Enim region. For this reason, one of the ways to conserve the culture is to preserve it. Therefore, the writer is interested in introducing and promoting Batik Kujur as a typical batik from Tanjung Enim City through Blog. 

Come on, guys. It's time for us to preserve the cultural diversity of the traditional cloth of Batik Kujur from Tanjung Enim by sharing this blog on your social media.

 We have to love cultural diversity, and let's preserve cultural diversity!!!

Thank you for visiting my blog, and don't forget to share your opinion in the comments section?.. enjoy reading 👍😉