Kebonsari kumbangan, the beetle buzzer

kumbangan (kumbongan)

Source term: kumbangan

kumbangan: from Javanese/Indonesian kumbang, 'beetle, large bee', for its buzz; spelled koembangan in Dutch-era sources.

Kebonsari calls itself Kampoeng Pring, the bamboo village: a few kilometres west of the great temple of Borobudur, its people weave bamboo trays, plant and tend bamboo groves, and build their children's games from it. One of them is the kumbangan, named for the beetle it imitates. A strip of bamboo two handspans long is shaved thin and pierced at one end, then tied by a cord to a round bamboo handle as long as a forearm; swung round, the flat blade spins in the air and buzzes like a beetle. Village elders remembered it, local makers rebuilt it, and it went back into children's hands at the bamboo-games workshop of the village culture market. Central Javanese children already had a koembangan a century ago.

ayunkan sehingga bilah bambu pipih berputar di udara dan menghasilkan suara seperti kumbang

swing it so that the flat bamboo blade spins in the air and makes a sound like a beetle

Susilo et al., Kampoeng Pring Kebonsari (2023), p. 105

Particulars

Object

A strip of split bamboo about 3 cm wide and two handspans long, shaved flat to 0.5 cm and pierced at one end, tied by a cord to a round bamboo handle about 40 cm long, like a long chopstick.

Function

A children's bamboo plaything, made and taught again in the village's games workshops; whirled so the blade buzzes like a beetle.