#yellowry

The main skirt is lung-lungan and parang, the former is a pattern of plant vines, the plants which I adapted are myrrh for the branches and leaves and saffron for the flowers. Myrrh for the anointment oil she carries around in the show and saffron as a flower the patron associates with her. It also doubles as a crown of thorns motif because myrrh branches do have thorns, at least some species do. It symbolises evergreen growth, community, and helping one another, as Mary is often the peacemaker and the heart of the ministry and the core trio.

Parang is a pattern that symbolises never giving up, strength, and continuity. It's also heavily connotated to royalty, as it's one of the forbidden patterns that only the royal family is allowed to wear in certain regions of central Java. I also took the variation parang klitik as reference which is reserved for the royal princesses as it also symbolises femininity and softness.

Finally, her top and shawl bear the pattern truntum which symbolises everlasting love and loyalty and is traditionally work at weddings by the couple. Legend has it that it was queen Kanjeng Ratu Kencana who created it when her husband king Pakubuwana III went to war. One version told that she poured her longing into the pattern as she gazed up at the night sky full of stars.