Emily's "baby shower" - Mitoni Ceremony

I wanted to arrange a baby shower for my friend Emily before she left for South Africa, where she will be until after the birth of their baby boy. I found out about a Javanese ceremony called MITONI, which I figured would be the perfect "baby shower" as opposed to a traditional shower.

I arranged the ceremony through Arie Rahmaniati, who you can email; arierahmaniati9@gmail.com should you be interested in arranging a Mitoni ceremony in Jakarta.

The legend of the Mitony ceremony:

The Mitoni ritual has been held since the 11th century. The legend involves a couple, Ki Sedya and Niken Satingkeb. Niken had given birth to 9 babies, but non of them lived very long. The couple went to their wise King Jayabaya for help. The wise and just King that was said to have a very sharp intuition, gave them fatherly advice. The King suggested that the couple purify themselves and pray solemnly to their Holy Creator. Niken had to take a "holy" bath with water from seven springs.

About the Mitoni ceremony:

Mitoni comes from the word pitu, which means seven. The ceremony is performed for a mother to be, during her 7th month of pregnancy and is usually performed for the first child. The ceremony is performed to request God's blessing for the safety and happiness of the parents to be and their baby. And for the child to live a noble life.

The ceremony was held on Friday, 31 July. Below is an account of the ceremony:

The parents to be, looked the part in their traditional Javanese clothes.
Sean's parents happened to be visiting and they stood in for Emily's parents during the ceremony proceedings. Sean and Emily had to show their respect to the 'parents'.


Emily was briefed on the Siraman). Siraman comes from the word "Siram" which means to take a bath. The holy bathing ritual is meant to purify the mother to be and the baby.
The garden area was beautifully decorated for the Siraman Ceremnoy. A big brass bowl, filled with "holy" water from 7 springs and petals from 7 different flowers incl. Rose, Yasmin, Magnolia and Cananga (ylang-ylang) was used to "shower" Emily with.

Emily was showered with the water and petals; first by her father in-law (representing a grandfather).


Sean and 7 "mothers" also each got a chance to "shower" Emily, 3 times.

The Siraman (holy bathing) sure gave new meaning to the term "baby shower".
Following the showering an earthenware, spouted jar "kendi" is broken. If the spout brakes off it is suppose to be a girl and when the spout stays in tact, a boy. We didn't tell the ladies conducting the ceremony that we knew the sex of the baby, but the ritual proved to be accurate.

We moved back into the house for the 2nd part of the ceremony; "dressing up" the mother to be. The batik cloth was draped over her, to save time. There are 6 kinds of batik cloth and one lurik cloth. Each piece of cloth has a different wish for the parents to be and the baby. The pattern of Ksatrian "a responsible fighter"; Wahyu Tumurun "heaven’s revelation - to be in a honorable position"; Sidomukti "to live prosperously", etc. We were instructed to say "belum" (Not yet) until the 7th cloth, the lurik (traditional woven cloth) was draped. The lurik lasem depicts a weaving of a happy love that should last for a long time.

A piece of yarn tied around Emily's waist symbolized the umbilical cord. Sean cut the "cord", with a keris, that had a piece of turmeric stuck to the tip of it. The cutting of the "cord" depicts that all obstacles faced by the family will be cut by the father.

After cutting the cord, Sean took 3 steps back, turned around and ran out of the house. This action depicts the smooth delivery of the baby.

Brojolan: 2 young yellow "Gading" coconuts were pushed through the lurik cloth, and placed on the pile of batiks on the floor. This also depicts a safe birth.
The two coconuts depicts the God Kamajaya and Goddess Kamaratih. It is believed that God Kamajaya is the most handsome God and Goddess Kamaratih, the most beautiful Goddess and that when the baby is a boy, he would be as handsome as God Kamajaya and if it's a girl, she would be as beautiful as Goddess Kamaratih.

Angrem (Javanese word for egg hatching) - The couple had to sit on the pile of batiks (as if sitting on eggs) which depicts that the baby would be delivered safely and on time. They also had to take different food from the offerings which they ate together off a big stone plate (cobek), which depicts the baby's placenta.

The offering consisted of 7 kinds of rice cones, incl. Tumpeng Megana. The rice cones are surrounded by vegetables. The sprout's mean "growing the life". Tumpeng Robyong, means "safety". It also included other traditional Indonesian food like Tumpeng Gundul, Tumpeng Urubing Damar.

Fruit and sweet cookies from peanuts which means, "a sweet life".

The offering also consists of red and white porridge. The red porridge, is to remember and respect mothers, while the white is for the fathers.
At the end of the ceremony the happy couple had to sell rujak and dawet, which we paid for with a earthenware coin. Rujak (mixed fruit with hot sambal) symbolizes an "enthusiastic life" and dawet (sweet coconut drink), also predicts a "smooth and safe birth".

It was a fun afternoon and everyone enjoyed witnessing and hearing all about this interesting Javanese ceremony and trying all the different Indonesian food as well as other yummy food stuff incl. my very own scones with strawberry jam and cream, which I was very proud of.

Emily left for South Africa on Sunday, 9 August and we all look forward to her return to Jakarta with their new bundle of Joy sometime towards the end of November.

Thinking of you Em, good luck with the last 2 months of pregnancy. Wishing you all the best!