INDONESIAN 

POPULAR CULTURE 
Introduction to Indonesia 

 
 

 
INFORMATION 
Total Islands  :  ±  17,500 
Coastline   :  ±  54,720 Km 
Land Area  :  ±  1,904,443 Km2 
Length    :  ±  5,100 Km 
Width    :  ±  1,900 Km 
Climate    : ‐5oC to 33oC (Mostly Warmer & Humid) 
Language   :  ±  583 
Ethnic Group  :  ±  480 
Population  :  ±  240 million 
Plant Species  :  ±  40,000 (±  3,000 Trees and  ±  5,000 Orchids) 
Sumatera 
•Characteristic: in the westernmost Indonesia.

•Land area: approximately 470.000 km2

•Population: more than 45 million people in total. The most populous regions are in the
North Sumatera and West Sumatera, while the major urban centers are Medan and
Palembang.

•Provinces: divided into 10 provinces

Aceh
Saman Dance
Saman Dance is the most popular dance in Aceh and the dance that has become
well-known abroad with the name "Thousand hands".

Eight to twenty male and female performers kneel in a row on the floor and make
different kinds of torso movements accompanied by songs, clapping hands,
slapping chests, slapping hands on the floor, etc.

The dance starts with slow movements and increases its tempo gradually to great
speed and finally come to a sudden stop.

North Sumatera - Nias

Stone Jumping
The famous ‘stone jumping’ are still part of daily life of Nias people.

According to the history, you are not allowed to go to the battlefield is you can’t
jump over this stone. It is considered as a test to see if someone is mature or not.

The stone is about 6 feet height.

Java 
•Charateristic: Java is the site of Jakarta, capital city of Indonesia.

•Land area: approximately 132,000km2.

•Population: approximately 130 million and it is also one of the most densely-populated
parts of the world.

•Provinces: divided into 4 provinces (Banten, West Java, Central Java and East Java), one
special region (Yogyakarta), and one special capital district (Jakarta).

Jakarta
The capital city of Indonesia, it is a contrast of modern western architecture and
traditional Indonesian culture.

Monas (National Monument)

This monument was erected especially to commemorate Indonesia’s independence.

Betawi Culture
The indigenous or the local residents of Jakarta are called Betawi. The Betawi
culture is the blend of the Arabic, Chinese and Portuguese culture. One of the
traditional arts and culture of Betawi is Ondel-ondel.

Ondel-ondel
a pair of male and female puppets with the towering height of approximately 2.5
meter tall, are Jakarta mascots, and merely an ornament in festive parades,
weddings, and other celebrations.

Central Java
Borobudur & Prambanan Temple
Borobudur Temple, the most magnificent Buddhism monument in the world;
Prambanan Temple is one of the largest Hindu temples in South East Asia. It is
characterized by its tall and pointed architecture.

Bali 
•Characteristic: Bali is known as an Island of Paradise. It is located in the east of Java.
Bali is also home to the vast majority of Indonesia's small Hindu minority. 93.18% of
Bali's population adheres to Hinduism.

•Land area: approximately 5.600 km2

•Population: more than 3.2 million people.

Temple
Although living in the modern world the Balinese people never forget their principles and
have strong faith in their religious belief. Whatever they do is for the God Almighty, so
you will find numerous temples in Bali.

Tanah Lot Temple is a sacred and central place for worship as well as civic and social
gathering. It is one of Bali’s most important sea temples. The temple sanctuary at Tanah
Lot is built at top of a huge rock surrounded by the sea.

Balinese dance is unique, dynamic, and has a very complex movement When dancing, a
dancer has to be able to exercise all of her body's parts from head to toe. The most
important thing she needs to remember is she has to always bend her knees, her back, and
keeps her shoulders wide open. Besides the movement of the entire body, facial
expression is also very crucial. It shows the character of the dance; happy, angry, sad,
shocked, love, etc.

Balinese Dance
The uniqueness about Balinese dance that distinguishes it from others is in the eye
movement. The eyes are glanced right and/or left accompanied by the chin. While doing
this, the eyes must be wide opened and must not be blinked.

Kalimantan 
•Characteristic: Kalimantan is located in Borneo island. Indonesia shares the Borneo
Island together with Malaysia and Brunei, and Kalimantan makes up approximately
three-quarters of the island.

•Land area: approximately 539.000 km2 km2

•Population: approximately 12 million

•Provinces: divided into4 provinces: East, South, West and Central Kalimantan.

Dayak People
Dayak is the name applied of aboriginal inhabitants of the Kalimantan island. They are
often called ‘mountain people’, because most of them live in the mountain area in East
Kalimantan.

Dayak women, especially older generation, wear a number of huge round earrings on
both ears, so that their ears become elongated, and the have tattoo on both hands and legs.

Dayak’s costumes are rich in colors and variation which are fitted with beads and feathers,
body full with tattoo of Dayak’s characteristic. The dominant colors are red, black,
yellow and white.

Sulawesi 
• Characteristic: It has a distinctive shape, dominated by four large peninsulas.

•Land area: approximately 174,600 km²

•Population: more than 16 million.

•Provinces: divided into 6 provinces: Gorontalo, West Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, Central
Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, and North Sulawesi. The largest cities on the island are
Makassar, on the southwestern coast of the island, and Manado, on the northern tip.

Tana Toraja
 Tongkonan: The traditional house of Torajas called “Tongkonan”, a graceful
architecture of the family houses, are built on stilts with the roof rearing up at either
end. It is representing the prows of the first ship to arrive in the area with the
Torajan ancestors.

Tao- Tao : a unique burial ritual

In Torajas burial ritual, the deceased’s remains are placed in a coffin and interred in
caves hollowed out in high cliffs. The mouth of the cave is guarded by statues of the
deceases, called Tau Tau, who looks out from a balcony near the burial caves,
watching over the families and friends they have left behind.

Konro Soup

Konro is a name for beef-ribs in South Sulawesi and Konro soup has become one of the
most famous cuisine in South Sulawesi.

To make a konro soup, you have to boil the ribs tender with spices like cinnamon, black
pepper and other local spices. Konro soup is usually served with rice.

Poco-poco Dance
The Poco-Poco is a popular line dance which originally comes from the Minahasa people
in Sulawesi.

At first the Poco-poco dance is used to establish solidarity and togetherness among the
soldiers, but then it widespread in the society.

The guests put aside their dishes at the sound of the poco-poco. Guests form lines and
begin to sway. Two steps to the right. Two steps to the left. Two steps back and then
forward and then back.

Papua 
•Characteristic: Papua is the easternmost island of Indonesia. It is the largest province of
Indonesia

•Land area: approximately 422.000 km2

•Population: approximately 2.8 million

•Provinces: divided into two provinces, Papua and West Papua.

Papua is the easternmost island of Indonesia. Most of its areas are still covered with the
wilds. One of the special habits of Papua’s people is eating betel nut.

Asmat Tribe : The Asmat people, who live along the remote southeast coast, are famed
for their artistic “primitive” woodcarving.
Sajojo Dance
One of the most famous song and dance from Papua is ‘Sajojo’.

INDONESIAN POPULAR CULTURE 
Definition :
Popular Culture comprises the daily interactions, needs and desires and cultural
'moments' that make up the everyday lives of the mainstream. It can include any number
of practices, including those pertaining to cooking, clothing, consumption, mass media
and the many facets of entertainment such as sports and literature.

Indonesian Food
Satay
Satay or sate is a dish consisting of chunks or slices of dice-sized meat that are grilled or
barbecued over a wood or charcoal fire, then usually served with peanut sauce or various
spicy seasonings.

Satay may have originated in Java, Indonesia, but it is also popular in many other
Southeast Asian countries, such as: Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand, as well as in The
Netherlands which was influenced through its former colonies.

Padang Food
Padang restaurants are famous for their spicy food and their unique way of serving it. It is
served in small portions of various dishes, but constituting, with rice, a complete meal.
Customers take - and pay for - only what they want from this array of dishes. The best
known Padang dish is Rendang, a spicy meat stew.

Indonesian Clothing
Batik
Batik refers to the technique of creating beautiful designs in cloth by covering parts of the
material with wax and then dying the material. Batik has been both an art and a craft for
centuries.

In Indonesia, batik cloth is part of an ancient tradition and is also considered as a national
art form. Even from kindergartens to high schools and in some offices, students and
workers have to wear batik cloth on Friday.

Kebaya
A Kebaya is a traditional blouse worn by women in Indonesia, sometimes made from
sheer material and usually worn with a sarung (a large sheet of fabric, often wrapped
around the waist and worn as a skirt) with a colorful motif. In 1600, Kebaya on Java
island were considered as a sacred clothing to be worn only by members of the Javanese
monarchy.
Apart from traditional kebaya, fashion designers are looking into ways of modifying the
design and making kebaya a more fashionable outfit. Casual designed kebaya can even be
worn with jeans. Usually women should ‘sanggul (put the hair up)’ their hair to match the
kebaya.

Indonesian Arts
Angklung
Angklung is a musical instrument made out of two bamboo tubes attached to a bamboo
frame. The tubes are carved so that they have a resonant pitch when struck.

Angklung is popular throughout Southeast Asia, but originated from Indonesia.

Shadow Puppet/Wayang
Indonesian shadow puppet is called Wayang which comes from "Bayang", the Javanese
word for shadow or imagination, also connotes "spirit." In Java, performances of shadow
puppet are accompanied by gamelan.

The stories for Wayang are usually drawn from Hindu epics the Ramayana and the
Mahabharata. The puppets figures themselves vary from place to place.

Gamelan
The word "gamelan" comes from the Javanese word "gamel", meaning to strike or
hammer. A gamelan is a musical ensemble of Indonesia typically featuring a variety of
instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums, and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed
and plucked strings.

The shadow puppet/wayang plays are accompanied by the gamelan orchestra which also
plays independently in concerts marking important events.

Dangdut Music
Dangdut is a genre of Indonesian popular music that is partly derived from Arabic, Indian,
and Malay folk music.
The popularity of dangdut with both young and old Indonesians has made it useful in
political campaigns.

A dangdut group usually consists of a singer, backed by a group of four to eight

musicians. The term was extended from the desert-like style of music, now expanded to
include other musical styles.

Indonesian Sports
The most popular sports in Indonesia are Badminton and Soccer. Every young man
from the small villages to the big cities of Indonesia, know how to play badminton and
soccer. Indonesian people often play badminton and soccer anywhere; on the street or in
the house and it does not have to be in the badminton field. Therefore this sport has
become widespread in Indonesia.
Foreign Influences
Barongsai / Lion Dance Performance on Chinese New Year

Meteor Garden 流星花園 is a Taiwanese drama that was very popular in Asia, also in
Indonesia. The serial “Meteor Garden” has big influences to Indonesian. Almost everyone
in Indonesia knows Dao Ming Si (道明寺) and Shan Cai (杉菜) , the main roles in the
serial.

When the serial was broadcasted in Indonesia, the haircut and fashion of Dao Ming Si
become a new style. Until now, the word Dao Ming Si referred to men with long hair and
wearing low collar shirts.

National Motto:
“Bhineka Tunggal Ika”

Unity in Diversity