Happy Jamu Day, Jamu Is a Signature of a Mother’s Love
"Jamu is a gift of Mother Earth, born out of 4,500 species of flowers, 3,689 plants, and 1,260 trees"Published by : Farida - 28/05/2021 18:45 WIB
2 Minutes read.
A jamu gendong seller probably reminded you of a typical Javanese woman in batik or lurik clothes and a long cloth to carry the jamu compounds. For Javanese women, carrying is not just a way to carry something, it’s to gendong, carrying their jamu lovingly on their back like carrying their own kids.
Jamu is an inheritance. jamu is an ecological encyclopedia, knowledge of health technology and at the same time a marker of civilization that is spoken and passed down from a mother to her daughter/s. Family knowledge greatly influences the use of jamu, as well as individual perceptions of it. On the other hand, the knowledge is passed down orally during compounding the jamu materials.
Jamu has always given a special place to women as jamu heirs of knowledge. Both as entrepreneurs and workers. The Original Djampi Jamu Kiosk proves it. Located in Yogyakarta, the herbal medicine business, which was started in 1875, employs women for generations, from bringing girls to bringing their daughter-in-law to see how to compound or mix ingredients.
Image source: www.flickr.com
See also Jamu Iboe, Jamu Ny. Yoto, Jamu Nyonya Meneer, Mooryati Soedibyo, Martha Tilaar, and thousands of jamu gendong seller women. They are living monuments. Furthermore, a mother’s knowledge also determines the jamu recipe for each family, so it is not an exaggeration to say that the number (of recipes) of jamu is proportional to the number of mothers. It is not impossible either, a mother is passed away, a (recipe) is also missing.
The habit of drinking jamu is related to the mother’s habit of growing various medicinal plants, such as turmeric, ginger, kencur (aromatic ginger), betel nut, star fruit, moringa leaf vegetables in the yard. Its function is not only for kitchen spices known as empon-empon, but also for healing media if at any time there are sick relatives.
When you look at your mother, you are seeing the purest love you will ever know. The efficacy of jamu is a mother’s love, and it is timeless. Happy Jamu Day.
