Upuh Ulen-Ulen, also known as kerawang gayo, is a traditional cloth of the

Gayonese The Gayo people are an ethnic group living in the highlands of Aceh Province, Sumatra, Indonesia. The Gayo tribe has a population of 336,856 and they live predominantly in the mountains. Most Gayo live in three regencies in Aceh namely Bener ...

people in

Aceh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a s ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

The cloth is traditionally placed on a young couple during a wedding ceremony, as well as on the shoulders of guests of honour. On April 6, 2018, the Aceh poet

Lesik Kati Ara Lesik Kati Ara (born November 12, 1937, Takengon, Aceh), better known as LK Ara, is an Indonesian poet. Brief biography and creativity Ara graduated from the secondary school of the Taman Siswa (literally "Garden of Students" or "Students' G ...

presented

Joko Widodo Joko Widodo (; born 21 June 1961), popularly known as Jokowi, is an Indonesian politician and businessman who is the 7th and current president of Indonesia. Elected in July 2014, he was the first Indonesian president not to come from an elite ...

, the president of Indonesia, with a cloth in the State Palace in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

. The cloth has many components. Traditionally, the background is meant to be the same as 'the contrast and color of the Earth'. According to a Gayonese proverb, God created man from the earth, who then lives on the earth and ultimately returns to the earth after death. The white circle in the center symbolizes a full moon. Other motifs found in Upuh Ulen-Ulen are: # A fence (''jang''), since everything in the world has a certain limit, beyond which one should not go. # Sprouts of bamboo (), which are symbols of persistence, longevity, and happiness. # A string of clouds (), which is an allegory of our path through life.Kain (Upuh Ulen-Ulen)
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References

{{reflist Textile arts Indonesian clothing Indonesian culture Gayonese people