This skirt cloth (kain panjang) is decorated with the semen garuda design. The main element of the semen design is the meru, a triangular-shaped arch which is believed to reference the cosmic mountain, Mount Mahameru. Interspersed with the meru motifs are feathered wings representing garuda, mount of the Hindu god, Vishnu. The garuda motif is symbolic of royalty. This skirt cloth was worn by Toetti Tukajati Soerjanto (born 1935), an Indonesian batik scholar, for her wedding in 1959. In Java and many parts of the Malay Archipelago, the wedding couple is regaled as “King and Queen” for the day. As an extension of this special status, they wear batik with royal motifs.
