Dukun District: Gresik Villages Beside the Bengawan Solo

Dukun District is the northwestern corner of Gresik Regency, a strip of 26 villages that runs along the north bank of the Bengawan Solo. The district takes its name from the village of Dukunanyar, but its real character comes from the river. The Bengawan Solo, the longest river on Java, forms its southern edge, feeds its rice land and, in the wet months, floods its lowest houses.

That makes Dukun a very different corner of Gresik from the harbour and factory belt most visitors know. Here the day is organised by the river, the market and the ferry crossing. The Gresik Regency guide places the district within the larger picture of the regency, and the sections below cover how Dukun is laid out, what its land produces, how people cross the river and what to expect from the best-known local attraction.

Where Dukun District Lies

Dukun stretches from east to west. At its eastern end it meets Sidayu and Bungah, two districts with their own guides on this site: Sidayu District is known for coastal ponds and a museum, and Bungah District for its milkfish ponds and Mengare Island. To the north lies Panceng, and to the south and west Dukun borders Lamongan Regency, specifically the Karangbinangun and Kalitengah districts to the south and the Solokuro and Laren districts to the west.

The land is lowland and fertile. The Bengawan Solo runs from west to east along the southern boundary, and most of the district sits on its northern side. This has a visible effect on the landscape. North of Dukun, the ground in Panceng is chalky and dry, and the farmland reflects it; in Dukun the soil is dark and soft, and the fields are green for much of the year. Anyone driving from the coastal highway toward the river can see the change in a few kilometres. For a look at the dry limestone coast next door, Pantai Delegan, the white-sand beach in Panceng is the nearest place that shows how different the northern edge of Gresik is.

A District of 26 Villages

With 26 villages Dukun has the largest number of villages of any district in Gresik. Each village is split into hamlets, and the names tell a good deal about the district.

Many of the names are plain descriptions of ground and water. Kalimati means dead river, a reminder that the Bengawan Solo has shifted its course over time, and Tasik Wangi, a hamlet of Madumulyorejo, uses the word for a lake or sea. Mentaras is the largest village by hamlet count, with four, as is Kalirejo.

The Market at the Centre of Dukun District

The centre of the district lies on the bank of the Bengawan Solo, at the point where the villages of Dukunanyar, Kalirejo and Sembungan Kidul meet. This is the site of Pasar Dukun, also known as Pasar Wage, a busy traditional market whose second name matches one of the days of the five-day Javanese week. From the market area a bridge crosses the river toward Karangbinangun and on to Lamongan, the regency capital across the water.

The location is not accidental. In river country a market tends to grow where a crossing is, because roads, boats and traders all converge there. Pasar Dukun draws shoppers from the villages on both banks and is busy enough that parking around it has been a topic of local traffic study. For a visitor the market is the easiest way to see what the district grows and eats, and it is the place where the pace of Dukun is most obvious.

Some distance east, the main road toward Bungah is the district’s link to the rest of Gresik. A stretch of about four kilometres of the Bungah to Dukun road has been taken up for widening, which says something about how much traffic the northern route now carries.

Fields: Rice, Maize and Seasonal Ponds

The fertile soil of Dukun is put to work in two main ways. Most of the land is rice paddy, with maize as the second main crop. At certain times of year some of the fields are converted into ponds for fish, a switch familiar across the Gresik lowlands, where the same plot may be a rice field in one season and a pond in another.

The river is both the source of this fertility and the biggest risk to it. Silt carried by the Bengawan Solo builds the soil, but the same water overtops the banks in the wet season. In flood years, rice fields and ponds in several Dukun villages end up under water. The planting calendar here tends to follow the rains in the upstream catchment as much as the rain falling on the district itself.

Crossing the Bengawan Solo

One of the more unusual facts about Dukun is that part of it lies on the wrong side of the river. Over time the Bengawan Solo changed course, and a few settlements that belong to Gresik ended up on its southern bank, surrounded by Lamongan land. Baron is a whole village in that position; the hamlet of Petissari in Babaksari and the hamlet of Brayo in Jrebeng are others.

These places are connected to the rest of the district by small passenger boats, the tambangan ferries, that carry people across the water. The service is local and informal. It is also the reason Dukun is one of the few places in Gresik where you can watch a river crossing work as ordinary transport rather than as a tourist trip.

The river’s moods are on show in the dry season. In October 2019, after a long dry spell, the Bengawan Solo at Dukuhkembar dwindled to pools in a wide bed, and the ferry boats lay unused. People walked and cycled across to Lamongan, and so many came to look that sellers of snacks set up on the bank. A resident who had lived beside the river for 55 years said he had never seen it so low.

Floods on the River Bank

When the Bengawan Solo rises, Dukun feels it first and hardest in its riverside villages. A levee runs along the north bank from Dukun as far as Madumulyorejo, and the worst-affected homes are those on the river side of it. In February 2018, floodwater entered houses in Jrebeng, Baron and Madumulyorejo, most of which stand within about 30 metres of the riverbank. Tiremenggal, Bangeran and Madumulyorejo were named by the regency disaster agency as the villages along the river most affected that month.

A local resident described the yearly flood as familiar, and noted that moving people from the land south of the levee had only been partly done, leaving many houses still in the flood zone. Because the water comes from upstream, it falls only when the volume in the upper river drops. It is useful to know if you are planning a visit between December and March, when the roads near the river can be affected.

Banyu Biru in Lowayu

The best-known attraction in the district is Banyu Biru in the village of Lowayu, a spring pool at the edge of the village. Its name means blue water, and the colour comes from sulphur in the water. Local belief holds that bathing in it eases itchy skin complaints. At one time it was an unspoiled spot under old shady trees, and it was the home village of a former regent of Gresik, which made it a point of local pride.

In 2018 the village received regency funds to rebuild the site. The work added a swimming pool, changing rooms, gazebos, toilets and a parking area, and the site is run by the village enterprise. By August 2020 residents said the water had turned from blue to green, that the site had become more of an artificial swimming pool than a natural spring, and that it had become quiet, helped by the pandemic closure earlier that year. A visit now is therefore better framed as a look at a village-run spring and pool than as a polished attraction. Lowayu is also home to a second public swimming pool, Malindo, which gives the village two places to swim.

Planning a Visit to Dukun District

Dukun is a district to visit for its landscape and daily life, and a half day is enough for the market, a drive along the river road and a stop at Lowayu. Choose the dry season for the best access to the riverbank and the ferry crossings. The wet months bring the green rice fields at their best but also the flood risk on the low roads.

The best way to place Dukun in context is to travel in an arc from the coast. Start at the port and old quarters of Gresik, pass through the pond landscape of Bungah and Sidayu, then turn inland toward the river. The contrast between the salty coast and the fresh water river country is what makes this part of the regency worth seeing. Return the same way, or continue across the bridge toward Lamongan. For a wider plan around the province, the East Java overview shows how Gresik fits with the rest of the route.

Related guides: Cerme District: Gresik Weaving Village, Ponds and Floods, Wringinanom District: Kali Surabaya Ferries and Fossil Site.