A blangkon or belangkon (Indonesian) is a traditional Javanese headdress worn by men and made of batik

Batik

Batik is a cloth that traditionally uses a manual wax-resist dyeing technique. Batik or fabrics with the traditional batik patterns are found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, China, Azerbaijan, India, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal, and Singapore.Javanese traditional batik, especially from...

 fabric. There are 4 different types of blangkons according to their shapes and origins: Ngayogyakarta blangkons, Surakarta

Surakarta

Surakarta, also called Solo or Sala, is a city in Central Java, Indonesia of more than 520,061 people with a population density of 11,811.5 people/km2. The 44 km2 city adjoins Karanganyar Regency and Boyolali Regency to the north, Karanganyar Regency and Sukoharjo Regency to the east and...

 blangkons, Kedu

Kedu Residency

Kedu Residency Was a colonial administrative unit in Central Java in Java IndonesiaIt contained the Kebumen, Wonosobo, Temanggung, Purworejo and Magelang regencies...

 blangkons, and Banyumas

Banyumas

Banyumas or "Banjoemas" is a regency in the southwestern part of Central Java province in Indonesia. Its capital is Sumpiuh.The term Banyumasan is also used as an adjective referring to the culture, language and peoples of larger Banyumas area...

an blangkons.

History

In ancient Javanese society, blangkons are believed to originate from the legend

Legend

A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...

ary story of Aji Saka. In the story, Aji Saka defeated Dewata Cengkar, a giant

Giant

Giant or Giants may refer to:*Giants *Giant *Giant people; see gigantism, a medical condition*Giants -Arts and entertainment:*Giant , a 1952 novel by Edna Ferber...

 who owns the land of Java, by spreading a giant piece of headdress that could cover the entire land of Java. Aji Saka was also believed to be the founder of the Javanese calendar

Javanese calendar

The Javanese calendar is the calendar of the Javanese people. It is used concurrently with two other calendars, the Gregorian calendar and the Islamic calendar...

.

There are theories stating that the use of blangkon is the influence of Hindu and Islamic culture absorbed by the Javanese. The first Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

s who entered Java are people from mainland China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 and Gujarati traders

Merchant

A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...

. Blangkons are believed to derive from turban

Turban

In English, Turban refers to several types of headwear popularly worn in the Middle East, North Africa, Punjab, Jamaica and Southwest Asia. A commonly used synonym is Pagri, the Indian word for turban.-Styles:...

s worn by Gujarati traders.