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Sembah (ꦱꦼꦩ꧀ꦧꦃ, ᮞᮨᮙᮘᮃᮠ, ᬲᬾᬫ᭄ᬩᬄ) is an Indonesian greeting and gesture as a way of demonstrating respect and reverence. While performing the sembah, the person clasped their palms together solemnly in a prayer-like fashion called suhun or susuhun in Javanese; or menyusun jari sepuluh ("to arrange the ten fingers") in Indonesian and Malay, and placed them in front of the chest, and moving the combined palms up to the chin, or all the way up until the thumbs touching the tip of the nose, while bowing slightly. Any of these two forms are made depending on the status of the person greeted. Sembah is endemic and prevalent in Nusantara regional cultures that shares dharmic heritage — such as Balinese, Javanese, and Sundanese even as far as Malay as the testament of Indonesian Hindu-Buddhist past. It is cognate to the Cambodian sampeah and Thai wai. All of these greetings are based on the Indian Añjali Mudrā used in namasté. In Indonesian and Malay, the term sembah means to pay the honour, obeisance, homage or to worship. It also the synonym with the Javanese word suhun. According to Indonesian writer Hamka in his book Dari Perbendaharaan Lama, the word derives from a Javanese word for position (susunan) of hands in reverential salutation, done with hands pressed together, palms touching and fingers pointed upwards, and bowing. This arrangement which has some similarities with Indian namaste is called "sembah", which is used to honor and praise. Thus "susuhunan" can refer to someone to give the "susunan" or "sembah" to, or a revered person. Another word for "susuhunan" is "sesembahan". The term sembah however, curiously sounds similar and cognate to Cambodian sampeah, which suggests their common origin or shared connections. The word sembahyang in Indonesian and Malaysian Malay today is made synonymous with the Islamic salat ritual, means prayer or worship. — this comes from the merging of sembah itself with hyang (deity or holy spirits) thus meaning "hyang worship".

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Related concepts (7)

Handshake

A handshake is a globally widespread, brief greeting or parting tradition in which two people grasp one of each other's like hands, in most cases accompanied by a brief up-and-down movement of the grasped hands. Customs surrounding handshakes are specific to cultures. Different cultures may be more or less likely to shake hands, or there may be different customs about how or when to shake hands. TOC The handshake may have originated in prehistory as a demonstration of peaceful intent, since it shows that the hand holds no weapon.

Añjali Mudrā

Añjali Mudrā (अञ्जलि मुद्रा), is a hand gesture mainly associated with Indian religions and arts, encountered throughout Asia and beyond. It is a part of Indian classical dance postures such as Bharatanatyam, yoga practice, and forms part of the greeting Namaste. Among the performance arts, Anjali Mudra is a form of non-verbal, visual communication to the audience. It is one of 24 samyukta mudras of the Indian classical arts. There are several forms of the Anjali Mudra such as the brahmanjali.

Thai greeting

The Thai greeting referred to as the wai (ไหว้, wâːj) consists of a slight bow, with the palms pressed together in a prayer-like fashion. It has its origin in the Indian Añjali Mudrā, like the Indian namaste and Burmese mingalaba. The higher the hands are held in relation to the face and the lower the bow, the more respect or reverence the giver of the wai is showing. The wai is traditionally observed upon formally entering a house. After the visit is over, the visitor asks for permission to leave and repeats the salutation made upon entering.