Ritual Reception of Sea Alms on a Pandemic Situation as a Form of Maintaining Local Tradition at the Tegalsari Fishery Port, West Tegalsari District, Tegal, Central Java, Indonesia

Abstract

The background of the research is about the culture of sea alms ritual which has been done for a long time in history of a fishery in Indonesia, especially in Tegal City. In 2020, the world has been impacted by a dangerous COVID-19 virus and increase the status into global pandemic. The writers do a research about how the pandemic changes the behavior and how pandemic affects the way of the ritual. The writers are doing cultural studies with field observation method including interview survey from 4 respondents. Sea alms ritual is giving a present to the sea guardian. The present itself shaped like a cone called ancak, consisting of fruits, foods, and alms with a buffalo head. The sea alms ritual is held in a day called 1 Sura in Javanese calendar. The result of this research is about how pandemic has influenced the behavior of the sea alms ritual, and how the people adapt with that situation. Reducing the number of people, doing social and physical distancing as a new normal protocol are a must. The sea alms ritual is held in a limited situation, but it does not diminish the solemnity of the ritual itself.