Modernization is often understood as a process that undermines traditional authority and ritual practices. However, the Labuhan Ritual performed by the Keraton Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat reveals a different dynamic. This study aims to analyze how the Labuhan Ritual functions as a form of institutionalized cultural resilience, as well as a mechanism for reproducing spiritual authority and community dynamics within contemporary Javanese society. This study employs a qualitative approach using interpretive ethnography, which emphasizes analysis of institutional structures, hierarchical roles, and symbolic configurations in ritual performance. Data were collected through digital ethnography, including observation of official visual documentation, archival sources, and relevant scholarly literature. The study’s findings indicate that the Labuhan Ritual functions as a ritual practice centered on the Keraton, characterized by strictly limited participation, standardized ritual protocols, and an ethos of devotion as the primary foundation for the tradition’s continuity. Spiritual authority is maintained through a stable hierarchical structure and tradition-based legitimacy, thereby preserving symbolic coherence and cosmological order. At the community level, this ritual generates a process of symbolic reception and collective meaning-making without undermining its core sacredness. This study contributes to the anthropological study of ritual by demonstrating that cultural resilience is not always manifested through open opposition to modernity but can operate effectively through the institutionalization and symbolic regulation of tradition.
Efendi et al. (Wed,) studied this question.