Keeping the Sacred, Adapting the Festive: Local Wisdom in Semboro's Manten Tebu

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Manten Tebu, a sugarcane wedding ceremony associated with the beginning of the milling season at Semboro Sugar Factory, continues to be performed despite reported changes in preparation and festivities. This qualitative case study examines how an experienced participant distinguishes ritual obligations from adjustable arrangements, describes the organizational work needed to stage the ceremony, and understands the transmission of ceremonial knowledge. The analysis draws on one Indonesian-language interview conducted in October 2026 and attributable public accounts from 2024–2026. The participant assigns particular importance to the paired canes, ijab, sesandingan, and culturally significant timing, while describing practical decisions about harvest readiness, transport, staffing, scheduling, and funding requests. Public reports document recurring ceremonies but do not provide comparable evidence of changing participation or costs. The informant also describes learning from senior workers and succession through organizing committees, neither of which independently establishes how fully cultural meanings have been transmitted. Interpreted through ritualization and social-memory scholarship, these findings suggest selective ritual continuity: a situated relationship among valued ritual acts, arrangements that enable their performance, and distinct forms of practical and cultural knowledge. The case illustrates how ritual priority, organisational accommodation, and knowledge transmission can be analytically distinguished without treating ceremonial recurrence as proof of unchanged practice or understanding.