The oral tradition of sansana bandar of Dayak Ngaju, Central Kalimantan: religious function and inheritance challenge in global era

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to study the challenge of the preservation of Sansana Bandar in the face of the complexities of modern era. Sansana Bandar is an oral tradition of Dayak Ngaju, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia presented orally without any musical instrument accompanying the performance. Sansana Bandar has a lot of stories, however, mostly narrate the life stories of Bandar figure from his birth to his maturity and getting married. The existence of Sansana Bandar is almost extinct despite its stories which provides various life values. Traditionally, Sansana Bandar has religious function which is in the past it was held as a pray to achieve the future goals. Thus, through ethnographic method, this study observes and interviews the actors of the tradition to understand the problems and challenges to preserve the tradition. Finding of the study, just like any finding of ethnographic method, is the life stories of the actors who attempt to preserve the tradition, to find out their reasons why Sansana Bandar needs to be preserved, and their challenge and effort to preserve it.