Batik hat or blangkon

The batik hat of blangkon is the traditional head wear of the Javanese men. There are a few theories about exactly how the blangkon came to be a part of the traditional Javanese dress. The most popular of these theories is that the blangkon is the influence of Hindu and Muslim culture which was absorbed by the Javanese people. This influence, it is believed, came from the Gujarati traders from mainland China who were the first Muslims to land on the island of Java.

The people of Java have their own legend about the origins of the blangkon, attributing it a man named Aji Saka. The legend states that Aji Saka sailed to the island of Java from Hindustan. Upon landing on Java, Aji Saka met a woman named Nyai Sengkeran, who took him and treated him like her own son. However, all was not perfect, as the villagers lived in fear of their king. King Dewata Cengkar regularly asked that he be sent a villager to be eaten as his meal. Upon hearing this, Aji Saka devised a plan to defeat the king and free the villagers. He made sure that he was the next to be brought in front of the king, but before the king could eat him, he made one last request. Aji Saka requested that he be granted a piece of land as wide as his turban. The king, thinking this was a ridiculous request decided to go ahead and humor Aji Saka, so Aji Saka began to unwind his turban. The cloth of the turban began to spread wider and longer until it spread out over the entire island and King Dewata Cengkar was pushed into the sea. He was no longer the king of the land and his people were free from his rule. In honor of Aji Saka and his turban the men of Java now regularly wear the blangkon as a symbol of their freedom from Dewata Cengkar.

There are four shapes in which the men of Java wear their blangkon based on origins and geographical location. These are Ngayogyakarta, Surakarta, Kedu and Banyumasan.