Background
Local culture is an important part of community identity and a source of knowledge passed down from one generation to the next. However, local traditions face growing challenges, including social change, modernization, declining knowledge among younger generations, and increasingly limited spaces for cultural transmission within communities.
One of the living cultural traditions that continues to develop in Jember Regency is the Sandorellang Ritual, originating from Mujan Hamlet, Klungkung Village, Sukorambi Subdistrict. Sandorellang is a community ritual that has been practiced across generations and forms part of the community’s social and spiritual life. It is performed on the occasion of 1 Muharram, or 1 Suro, through a series of devotional recitations, prayers, and collective movements performed in a circular formation. The ritual embodies spiritual values, respect for ancestors, gratitude, togetherness, and social ties.
Over time, Sandorellang has become important not only to the people of Mujan Hamlet as the tradition’s custodians, but also as part of the broader cultural identity of Klungkung Village. This provided an important basis for Yayasan ALIT Indonesia to make Sandorellang one of the subjects of its community-based cultural conservation efforts beginning in 2021.
This intervention was rooted in the understanding that cultural conservation is not simply about ensuring that a ritual continues to be performed. It also means keeping its knowledge, values, history, practitioners, and processes of transmission alive within the community.
ALIT Indonesia’s Intervention
Since 2021, ALIT Indonesia has supported the preservation of Sandorellang through a community-based conservation approach. This approach positions the community as both the custodian and the primary actor responsible for sustaining its own cultural heritage.
The intervention encouraged community members to revisit the values and meanings embedded in Sandorellang, document local knowledge, strengthen the involvement of younger generations, and create spaces for intergenerational dialogue about the history and continued existence of the ritual.
This approach is important because the sustainability of a tradition is determined not only by how frequently a ritual is performed, but also by how deeply the community understands the meaning and values behind it.
Throughout the process, Sandorellang began to be positioned as a source of community learning. Children and young people were given opportunities to learn about their local culture, while older generations gained space to share their knowledge, experiences, and stories about a ritual inherited from their ancestors.
In this way, the conservation intervention went beyond preserving the physical form of the ritual and instead focused on strengthening the community-level ecosystem for cultural transmission.
The Process of Change
The transformation took place gradually. Initially, Sandorellang was primarily known and practiced by its custodial community in Mujan Hamlet. Through the conservation process, broader opportunities emerged to document, introduce, and discuss Sandorellang as part of the cultural heritage of the wider community.
This process encouraged a growing awareness that Sandorellang was not simply the possession of a particular group or individual, but an important part of the cultural identity of Klungkung Village.
A significant development took place in 2024, when the cultural presence and potential of Sandorellang contributed to the recognition of Klungkung Village as a Cultural Village through the Daya Desa Program.
This recognition marked an important turning point. Sandorellang’s position evolved from a local tradition practiced primarily by its community custodians into a cultural asset that helped strengthen the identity of the village.
The recognition continued to expand. Sandorellang was subsequently recorded as one of the cultural attractions within Klungkung Cultural Tourism Village. This reflected an expanding role for the tradition, moving from the community sphere into spaces for education, cultural activities, and village development.
The process reached a significant milestone in early September 2026, when the Sandorellang Ritual was officially designated as Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) through a process involving the Cultural Heritage Preservation Office Region XI of East Java and the Cultural Heritage Expert Team (Tim Ahli Cagar Budaya or TACB), as part of the achievements of the Klungkung community and Village Government.
This sequence of developments demonstrates how the conservation process initiated in 2021 evolved into a broader effort to strengthen cultural identity and secure wider recognition for the tradition.
Outcome
The primary outcome of the Sandorellang conservation and community-support process has been greater recognition, appreciation, and positioning of Sandorellang as an important part of the cultural identity of Mujan Hamlet and Klungkung Village.
This outcome can be seen through several key developments.
First, Sandorellang remains alive and continues to be practiced by its custodial community. The ritual has not become merely a remnant of the past, but remains part of the community’s living cultural practices.
Second, there has been greater community awareness of the value and importance of preserving local culture. Sandorellang is increasingly understood not simply as a ritual activity, but as a body of knowledge and a form of identity whose continuity needs to be protected.
Third, Sandorellang’s role within Klungkung Village’s cultural identity has been strengthened. This is reflected in its contribution to the recognition of Klungkung as a Cultural Village in 2024 and its development as one of the village’s cultural attractions.
Fourth, Sandorellang received formal recognition as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2026. This represents an important achievement in its conservation journey, providing stronger legitimacy for the existence and cultural value of the Sandorellang tradition.
The outcome, therefore, is not simply an administrative change in status. It also reflects a shift in how the community and the wider environment around it perceive Sandorellang: from a local ritual into a cultural asset with social, educational, identity-building, and sustainability values for the community.
Impact
One of the emerging impacts of this process is a stronger sense of cultural identity among the people of Klungkung Village. Sandorellang has become one of the symbols demonstrating that the community possesses distinctive knowledge, history, and traditions that are worthy of being passed on to future generations.
For the community, Sandorellang also provides a space for strengthening social relationships. The ritual brings together different groups and generations, creating opportunities for interaction, social connection, and shared learning.
For younger generations, Sandorellang provides an opportunity to experience and learn about local culture directly. This process is important in nurturing a sense of belonging and cultural ownership, allowing young people not merely to observe their heritage, but to become part of its ongoing transmission.
At the village level, Sandorellang strengthens Klungkung’s position as a community with significant cultural heritage. Its status as a Cultural Village, together with Sandorellang’s recognition as Intangible Cultural Heritage, creates opportunities for the village to develop educational and cultural initiatives based on local potential, while continuing to respect the values and cultural context of the community that safeguards the tradition.
Lessons Learned
The journey of Sandorellang has provided ALIT Indonesia with several important lessons in implementing community-based cultural conservation programs.
First, cultural preservation requires a long-term process. Meaningful change does not come from a single activity or program, but through consistent efforts to build awareness, documentation, transmission, and recognition.
Second, communities must remain the primary actors in cultural preservation. Supporting organizations can create spaces, facilitate processes, document knowledge, and connect communities with relevant stakeholders. However, the long-term continuity of a tradition ultimately depends on the community as its cultural custodian.
Third, children and younger generations need to be involved from the beginning. Cultural preservation becomes more sustainable when future generations do not simply learn the form of a ritual, but also understand its history, values, philosophy, and wider social and cultural context.
Fourth, formal recognition is one part of the process, not the final goal. The designation of Sandorellang as Intangible Cultural Heritage is an important achievement, but its long-term significance will depend on whether this recognition is followed by continued practice, regeneration of practitioners, documentation, and intergenerational transmission of knowledge.
Sustainability
The designation of Sandorellang as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2026 provides an important momentum for strengthening cultural preservation efforts in Klungkung Village.
Moving forward, the sustainability of Sandorellang should focus on several key areas. First, strengthening the regeneration of practitioners, particularly by creating greater opportunities for children and young people to learn about and participate in the tradition.
Second, maintaining ongoing documentation of cultural knowledge, including its history, values, meanings, implementation process, key figures and practitioners, and the development of Sandorellang over time.
Third, strengthening collaboration among the community, Klungkung Village Government, cultural practitioners, educational institutions, local government, and civil society organizations to ensure that Sandorellang remains an active part of community life.
Fourth, ensuring that the use of Sandorellang as part of the Cultural Village and Cultural Tourism Village respects the ritual’s values, context, and sacred nature, while ensuring that the community retains ownership of its tradition.
Conclusion
The journey of the Sandorellang Ritual since 2021 demonstrates how community-based conservation can generate broader change when communities are given the space to recognize, safeguard, and develop their own cultural heritage.
Over five years, Sandorellang has journeyed from becoming a focus of conservation efforts in 2021, contributing to the strengthening of Klungkung as a Cultural Village in 2024, to receiving recognition as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2026.
This journey demonstrates that cultural preservation is not simply about preventing traditions from disappearing. It is also about rebuilding and strengthening communities’ relationships with their history, identity, knowledge, and the values passed down by their ancestors.
For ALIT Indonesia, the Sandorellang experience demonstrates that program outcomes are not always measured through material change. They can also take the form of greater awareness, stronger cultural identity, increased community participation, expanded spaces for intergenerational transmission, and recognition of local knowledge and cultural heritage.
The designation of Sandorellang as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2026 is not the end of the journey. Instead, it creates a renewed responsibility to ensure that Sandorellang remains a living tradition within the community, is understood by younger generations, and continues to be passed on as part of the cultural identity and heritage of Klungkung Village.
