Hari Raya

Last two days was Hari Raya and most of the staffs were wore Baju Kurung or Baju Kebaya to celebrate this festival. This is my first time wear Baju Kurung for the whole day and work. (except for the presentation) It look nice seriously but Baju Kebaya will make a girl look more pretty compare to Baju Kurung. XD

It is my first time celebrate this festival so I decided to talk about Hari Raya. Before that, let me show you how's the day with Baju Kurung in our outlet. It's kinda hard to work with this traditional clothes. :X

Let's start about the Hari Raya:


The most significant celebration for Muslims, Eid al Fitr, it signifies the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. Known locally as Hari Raya Puasa or Hari Raya AidilFitri, the celebration is determined by sighting of the new moon on the day, before the next month on the Muslim calendar, Syawal.

The word "Hari Raya" means the day of celebration.

Ramadan

Ramadan is the name of the one-month fasting period when Muslims fast from dawn till sunset. During the period of fasting, apart from eating and drinking, Muslims are also forbidden from smoking and having secual relations. Only the sick are excused from fasting during this month. Muslims are expected to avoid lying, breaking promise or cheating during the month of Ramadan. It is to remind them of the plight of the poor and to cleanse themselves by exercising abstinence and self-control. Even the young are taught to fast.

The Celebration

Muslims starts the day by wearing new clothes and congregating in the mosques early in the morning to perform Hari Raya Puasa prayers followed by visiting the graves of the departed. The young will ask for forgiveness from their elders and have open house for relatives and friends to come to their house. Plenty of traditional Malay delicacies are served during this festive season. Houses are thoroughly cleaned and decorated, and lighting of oil lamps welcomes the angels which are believed to be visiting the earth during the seven days preceding the festival. The celebration lasts for a month but most of the celebration is concentrated in the first three days.

Visiting Muslim homes on Hari Raya Puasa, you can expect to taste a wide variety of delicious spicy dishes. Some favourite dishes that can be found in Muslims homes on this special occasion are ketupat (as shown in the picture), lontong, nasi padang and neef rendang, The Muslims also give packets of money to kids when they go visiting. The packets are usually green in color and children oftel look forward to getting these money tokens on Hari Raya Puasa.

There are two types of clothes I want to talk about for Hari Raya which is Baju Kurung & Baju Kebaya

Baju Kurung

The Baju Kurung is a traditional Malay costume which loosely translated as "Enclosed Dress". This type of costume is the national dress of Brunei and Malaysia, and can also be found in Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand. 

History of Baju Kurung

For instance, Chinese chronicles described the attire of the Malays in the 13th century for both male and female as covering only the bottom part of the body, with no cloth to cover the upper body. Later, tunics, which are simple cover-alls that are either short-sleeve or sleeveless, were said to be the main attire of the Malays. And the pants or trousers worn were mostly in the "gunting Aceh" (Aceh cut) fashion, ending just below the knee. The women folks, on the other hand, normally wear sarongs in the "berkemban" style, 

that is, by wrapping a piece of sarong around the body covering the chest. However, with the growth of trade, and the importance of the Silk Route in China, traders crossed the Malay Archipelago from the Arabian archipelago and India to China by ships to sell their products. And these ships stopped at the ports and villages along the coasts of the Malay Archipelago, that later bloomed into trading posts in south-east Asia. Goods from China, India, Middle East (Arab) and European countries were traded here. And the foreign traders not only brought with them goods for sale and barter, but also their unique dressing and fashion styles. The Malays were therefore influenced and exposed to various fashions and costumes from various countries early in their civilized state, and these foreigners have influenced greatly the evolution of the traditional Malay costumes and dress. And when the Malacca Empire was at its height in the 15th century, with Islam as the main religion, the Malay traditional costume, the Baju Melayu, was born, When they became more civilized with the adoption of Islam as their religion, the Malays slowly covered their bodies according to the tenets and teachings of Islam.The early baju kurung was longer and looser, unsuited to the figure of Malay women. It was popularised in the late 19th century by Sultan

 Abu Bakar of Johor




Baju Kebaya

A Kebaya is a traditional blouse-dress combination worn by women in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Burma, Singapore, southern Thailand. It is sometimes made from sheer material and usually worn with a sarong or batik kain panjang, or other traditional woven garment such as ikat, songket with a colorful motif. The kebaya is the national costume of Indonesia, although it is more accurately endemic to Javanese, Sundanese and Balinese people.

History of Baju Kebaya


The earliest form of Kebaya originates in the court of the Javanese Majapahit Kingdom as a means to blend the existing female Kemban, torso wrap of the aristocratic women to be more modest and acceptable to the newly adopted Islam religion. Aceh, Riau and Johor Kingdoms and Northern Sumatra adopted the Javanese style kebaya as a means of social expression of status with the more alus or refined Javanese overlords.
The name of Kebaya as a particular clothing type was noted by the Portuguese when they landed in Indonesia. Kebaya is associated with a type of blouse worn by Indonesian women in 15th or 16th century. Prior to 1600, kebaya on Java island were considered as a sacred clothing to be worn only by royal family, aristocrats (bangsawan) and minor nobility, in an era when peasant men and many women walked publicly bare-chested. Slowly it naturally spread to neighbouring areas through trade, diplomacy and social interactions to Malacca, Bali, Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi and the Sultanate of Sulu and Mindanao Javanese kebaya as known today.