BATIK LASEM CLOTH

A batik lasem may be worn by couples, as a hip wrap, during and after their wedding ceremony. At the beginning of the ritual, the cloth is displayed showing the brightly red colored tumpal pasung (triangle) while, following the wedding vows, it is turned to be worn with the dark blue colors on the outside. The main body of the cloth has a motif called lung-lungan, which is a red and blue continuous floral scroll, on a crème colored background.This bang-biron (red and blue) cloth from Lasem uniquely represents the batik of the northern coast of Java. One of its special characteristics is that it has two differently dyed tumpal (the ‘head’ of a batik cloth, usually with a triangle motif), one executed in bright red at one end, the other dyed dark blue. The red is obtained from mengkudu (morinda citriokia), while the blue vegetable dye is from Tarum or Indigo.