Bancakan and Its Potential as a Tourist Attraction

Abstract

: Bancakan comes from Chinese word ciak which means eating. Bancakan then interpreted as eating together is one of the rituals carried out by Javanese. This ritual is carried on for generations. The preservation of bancakan needs to be done considering that at this time not all Javanese perform this ritual. Moreover, there are not many people who understand the philosophy of bancakan especially for young generation and millennials. The development of sustainable tourism is expected to make bancakan as sustainable heritage. The aim of this research is to see the potential of bancakan as tourist attraction. Data collection techniques used in this research were interviews, observations, and documentation. The respondents of this research were community representatives, traditional and religious leader in one of villages in Karanganyar Regency, Indonesia, that still carry out bancakan as part of cultural heritage. The study shows that the function of bancakan has changed from what was previously a means to spread the value of Islam, becoming a means for giving alms (sharing with other). The results indicate that bancakan has the potential to become a tourist attraction both for cultural and food tourism since bancakan is a ritual with the most important component is food. In carrying out this ritual, the local community has their own schedule throughout the year both individually and in groups, usually they use Javanese calendar. Bancakan is carried out with specific purposes symbolized by the various forms of rice served. Cone-shape rice symbolizes gratitude to God, flat-shape rice symbolizes a blessing to supernatural beings who have coexisted with human, and round-shape rice is a form of gratitude to ancestors.