Kudus Buka Luwur Tradition Distributes 34,000 Rice Packs in Ritual

RRI.CO.ID, Kudus - Marking 10 Muharram 1448 Hijri year, the Kudus Tower complex in Central Java once again became a focal point of Islamic spirituality and Javanese tradition. Through Buka Luwur Tradition, people of Kudus sustain a coastal Javanese cultural heartbeat that has lasted for centuries.

Buka Luwur tradition is a sacred ritual of replacing the grave canopy of Sunan Kudus, the region’s revered Islamic proselytizer. The tradition then includes the distribution of 34,000 packs of luwur rice (traditional Indonesian rice dish) to the public across the Tower and Sunan Kudus tomb complex.

“The amount of Buka Luwur rice varies each year because it depends on the number of sacrificial animals and rice donations from the community. This year we distributed just over 34,000 packs,” said spokesperson for the Buka Luwur committee, Denny Nur Hakim, in Kudus, on Thursday, 25 June 2026.

He explained that the full programme of Buka Luwur embodies the community’s emulation of Sunan Kudus’s teachings, who is credited with spreading Islam and founding the city of Kudus.

The tradition also reflects communal solidarity and mutual cooperation since all funding comes from residents’ alms. Both money and in-kind donations such as rice, cloth, and animals like buffalo and goats.

This year the committee received donations of 22 buffalo and 92 goats. The animals were slaughtered and processed into two signature dishes believed to have been favorites of Sunan Kudus, which are uyah asem and Sego Jangkrik or cricket dish. Uyah asem is a dry-style meat preparation, while cricket dish is a soupy meat dish.

“On 9 Muharram 1448 Hijri year, the donated animals were prepared into two dishes, which are uyah asem and cricket dish. Both are emblematic of the Buka Luwur tradition at Sunan Kudus,” he said, as quoted by Antara.

Denny said more than 34,000 rice packs distributed to the public contained the uyah asem menu. The choice was practical, the dry uyah asem keeps longer during distribution across various areas.

“If we distributed the soupy cricket dish, the rice would spoil faster. That’s why the distributed packs include rice with uyah asem,” he explained.

Distribution began in the pre-dawn hours and was sent to multiple areas across Kudus Regency. Each year thousands of residents await the Buka Luwur rice distribution, believed to bring blessings and form part of a religious and cultural tradition passed down through generations.

This year’s Buka Luwur fell on Thursday, 25 June 2026. The ritual on 10 Muharram marks the ceremonial replacement of the canopy at Sunan Kudus’s tomb.

Karsani, a resident of Sidorekso Village, Kaliwungu Subdistrict, Kudus, who queued for the Buka Luwur rice, said he had been in line since finishing dawn prayer with his wife and two children. After receiving his pack of uyah asem rice, Karsani consumed it immediately, many others also ate the rice on the spot as their morning meal.

He said he joins the queue every year hoping for blessings, noting that worship Islamic leaders (kiai) in the Kudus Tower complex also pray for recipients. ***

Source: https://www.antaranews.com/berita/5622203/tradisi-buka-luwur-sunan-kudus-bagi-bagi-34000-bungkus-nasi