Kawung:

Kawung is probably the most common pattern of batik nowadays but it was the oldest batik pattern. It was actually a pattern of fruits with 4 petals which now looks like the Lotus flower. This was just the basic pattern, sometimes people added new objects such as fish scales or others. It was simple though, only made of repeating squares, oval, rectangles and stars. The Kawung pattern meant purity and the belief that we are a part of the universe.

 

Parang:

Parang is a sword pattern. It symbolizes the power and growth and was only allowed to be worn by rulers. A person on the past believes that someone who wears this batik design will have magic powers to destroy bad spirits and avoid bad lucks. Parang actually meant a broken dagger (keris in Indonesia) which was a traditional sword of Indonesia. Keris was believed to have super or magic power to win a battle or brought good luck to somebody that has unfortunate incidents. The bigger the parang pattern, only high class people were allowed to wear them.