Story of Anak Gimbel

By Kristy Emilia Last week i went to Dieng pletau at Wonosobo to have a fun hiking to Mount Prau. Before i went to Dieng, my friend told me everything about how beautiful Dieng is. Little bit i know about the culture in Dieng, but what i know most is about the anak gimbel dieng. Why called anak gimbel? Because their hair look like a reggae artist. Their hair is not made in purpose, their hair is suddenly grow up when the kid reach 6 months until 2 years. At first, the kid will feel sick like a fever but after they recover their hair will start to gimbel by itself. People in Dieng believe that anak gimbel is come from Nyi Roro Kidul, the goddess of laut selatan. It is not a bad thing to have a anak gimbel, but people believe that anak gimbel will bring luck to the family. So what did the kid do everyday? The anak gimbel do just the same like an ordinary kid. What make them different is that anak gimbel will get special treatment than any other kid. Here is my picture with the anak gimbel in Dieng.

The anak gimbel hair should not be cut by anyone until the kid want to cut their hair. Usually the Dieng pletau have their special occasion to cut anak gimbel hair every mid year. If the kid don't want to cut their hair and someone cut their hair it can cause the kid sick and the hair will still continuously grow up.

Usually every year in august, people in Dieng will held an event to cut the anak gimbel hair. This is became an attractive event for the foreign tourist and the local tourist. The kid that the hair will be cut will ask one wish to the parents and the parents must grant the kid wish. People believe if the parents didn't grant the kid wish then it will bring a bad luck to the family and the hair will be grow again. This year, the event will be held in 30 - 31 August.