Palang Pintu tradition is a very popular tradition among the Betawi people. This tradition has been widely recognized by the Indonesian people. This tradition can be found at wedding ceremonies. The doorstop is usually done at the beginning when the prospective groom and his entourage come to the village or to the house of the prospective bride to start a series of wedding processions

'Palang' in Betawi is a barrier, namely an object that prevents others or something from passing, while ‘Pintu’ is a door. So it can be interpreted that palang pintu is a Betawi tradition to open barriers for other people to enter certain areas where the area has a champion as a barrier or ‘palang’.

Generally, the palang pintu procession in a wedding ceremony is carried out by competing in the martial arts between representatives of the groom against representatives of the bride to be accepted as a family by the bride. In essence, palang pintu is to remind the bridegroom for paying attention to the customary norms that exist in the bride's family. In addition, the groom must also be able to master the knowledge of religion or the Al-Quran.

The bride's doorman then opened a conversation with several pantun (rhymes) that the groom's representatives had to reply to. The rhyming dialogue was carried out to invite the audience. The contents of the pantun are usually questions and answers about the intentions and goals of the groom. This event is held before the marriage contract begins. When the group of the prospective groom arrives in front of the prospective bride‘s residence, the group will be intercepted by the family of the prospective bride. The champions of the groom must fight the champions of the prospective bride.

In addition, a representative of the prospective bride challenges silat with the male as a symbol of the groom's struggle to marry his lover. Uniquely, in every martial arts battle, the bride's party will be defeated by the groom's champion. In addition to fighting rhymes and silat, the prospective groom’s skill in reading the holy Koran is also challenged.

After all the tests have been passed, the latch is then opened and entered by the prospective groom. If the groom does not meet these requirements, the groom is welcome to return home and can come back when he is ready.

Palang Pintu Complement in Every Appearance

In each Palang Pintu show, there are several complements such as coconut flowers. Coconut is a plant that benefits from tree, roots, and fruit. The philosophy is, that the coconut flower means hope that when the groom has become the legal head of the household, he can be useful both in the family and in society.

The entourage of the prospective groom also brings roti buaya (bread made in the shape of a crocodile) as one of the gifts to the prospective bride. This indicates that the bridegroom is ready to marry and will be loyal forever like the philosophy of the crocodile that will not remarry even if his partner dies.

The reason bread is brought in at the ceremony is because, in ancient times for the Betawi people, bread was the most luxurious food. At that time only the Dutch ate bread and the Betawi people only ate types of tubers such as cassava, sweet potatoes, and others.