Giant Dragons in Bandung: West Java

I have always said that Bandung will be the centre of cultural tourism in West Java and it is a city that is flourishing in their efforts to lure tourists and travellers alike.

With the upcoming Chinese New Year festivities, the Bandung Super Mall has erected two giant dragons to entertain the visitors. What a great idea!. Besides being a fabulous place to shop, there is the added attraction of these mythological monsters. Yuli Tri Suwarni explains about them:

Dragons greet Year of the Pig in Bandung

Visitors to the Bandung Super Mall (BSM) are now getting more than they bargained for.

Since Feb. 2, two giant dragons have been offering additional entertainment to visitors to the shopping center free of charge. Even people passing along Jl. Gatot Subroto have benefited from the display.

The dragons move their heads up and down constantly, roaring and showing their sharp and large teeth and fangs. Their bodies, draped in green, yellow and red clothes, sway over 500 meters from BSM to the end of the parking ground.

In the evening, the Lung dragon pair displays their proud stance with reddish eyes and clear physical appearance thanks to some 500 lamps tucked all over their bodies — from their eyes to the tips of their tails.

Chinese-Indonesian Lani, 23, said she was happy to see the dragons in a public space, something unthinkable during the leadership of former President Soeharto.

“We feel we are on a equal footing with other Indonesians as now we have more opportunities to show our own culture. We are no longer afraid of celebrating the Lunar New Year in public like this,” said Lani, adding that she had her picture taken under the dragons.

Lani, who works for a private company in Bandung, West Java believes that Chinese-Indonesians are now accepted by all ethnic groups in the country.

During Soeharto’s 33 years of leadership, the public display of Chinese culture and the celebration of the Chinese New Year was banned for Beijing’s alleged role in the 1965 abortive coup.

Former president Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid revoked some of the anti-Chinese laws and allowed public displays of Chinese culture. Former President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who replaced Gus Dur, declared the Chinese New Year, which this year falls on Sunday, to be a public holiday.

Needless to say, the dragons have appealed to virtually all visitors to BSM. Many of them have had their pictures taken under the dragons.

Admitting that he did not quite understand the philosophy behind the dragons, Sunaryo, 33, a resident of Cicadas, Bandung said they provided free-of-charge entertainment for his family.

“It is common for every place to be thematic in appearance. In the context of the Chinese Lunar New Year, most places will put up the Gong Xi Fat Chai banners. We also do the same during Lebaran or Christmas. We visitors simply enjoy all these,” said Sunaryo, a father of two.

Triya Filia Santi, a BSM spokeswoman, said the mall chose dragons over pigs, which are the symbol of this Chinese New Year, to avoid insulting Bandung residents, who are mostly Muslim.

Besides, Triya said, the dragon is one of the animals held sacred in China as a half-deity creature.

“It is not possible to put up a giant icon of pig everywhere. It is a sensitive matter and it is not right to do so,” said Triya.

The two Lung dragons, which will be on display until Feb. 25, symbolize the balance of yin and yang, good and the bad.

In China, she said, there are 9 types of dragons. The Lung dragons have been chosen as they are the strongest and are believed to have the ability to bring in rain, which is an essential element in life.

The Lung dragon itself has the following characteristics: it has a long body, which sways like a snake and has red-yellow and green colors. The head of the dragon must face south while the tail faces north, which is the symbol of the sun.

Triya said that the dragons at BSM were perhaps the biggest and longest ever made in Indonesia. However, she said that the BSM management has no intention to register it with the Indonesian Record Museum (MURI).

“From the very beginning, we have never thought of making this an achievement. We have made the dragons more because we would like to entertain Bandung residents,” said Triya.

It was not easy, though, to make a dragon to reinforce the “Dragon Fantasy” theme BSM has chosen for its celebration of the Chinese New Year.

At least 50 employees took part in making the bodies of the Lung dragons. The initial idea came from Hilman Salim, the technical director of BSM.

To make these dragons, they used about 4,400 meters of Abutai fabric and 650 bamboo poles 9 meters in length. The bamboo poles are split to make a framework draped in cloth. To beautify the body of a dragon, the artistic team wraps 200 rolls of yellow ribbons around it. To glue the fabric to the bamboo framework, the team needed 150 kilograms of glue.

As for the heads, they ordered them especially from a factory.

“That was the most difficult part. We would like the head to be able to move up and down and also produce a roaring sound to give a ‘hair-raising’ impression. On February 18, the Chinese Lunar New Year, we would like the dragons to look as if they were spurting fire. For this we use a smoke gun,” said Triya, who was reluctant to reveal how much money had been spent on the two dragons.

Yuli Tri Suwarni