19 de mayo de 2006, 7h39
Maridjan, center, the spiritual guardian of Mount Merapi, with other villagers perform a midnight walk in silence circling their village as a part of a ritual of a prayer for protection from disaster, in Kinahrejo village which lies on the slope of the volcano, Indonesia, late Thursday, May 18, 2006. The 3,000-meter (9,800-foot) Merapi which has been shooting out lava and deadly clouds of hot ash and debris for several weeks, was put on high alert last weekend and has since been rocked by a series of eruptions. (AP Photo /Dita Alangkara) Height (pixels): 353 Width (pixels): 512

''Merapi is the heart of the universe. The smoke is like the breath of the universe,'' Maridjan said.

Maridjan says there "are many spirits above the mountain, too many to count."

'Mbah' Maridjan and environmental protection

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Mbah Maridjan, 73, the caretaker of Mt. Merapi, recently walked up the smoldering slopes of the volcano to pray, ignoring Merapi's raised alert status and the frantic calls by authorities for residents to evacuate.

Those officials whose evacuation order was ignored may regard Maridjan as a stubborn old man with supernatural leanings, who has carelessly endangered his life and the lives of those who trust in him.

Some officials may even expect a major eruption from Merapi, a lesson from the volcano to Maridjan about the supremacy of science to supernatural mumbo jumbo.

But watching Maridjan on television the day before he went up the slopes to pray, it was difficult to dismiss him or his message.

"The most important thing is the love of nature. We should love nature and revere it," he said. "Second, we should stop making nature suffer through our destructive behavior."

He addressed the issue of logging in the forest around Merapi, which has affected the harmony and balance of nature. He also pointed to the excessive use of heavy equipment to quarry sand around the mountain.

The statements were more in keeping with an environmentalist than the caretaker of the traditional shrines on the cone-shaped volcano.

But for many Javanese, Maridjan's statements made perfect sense, coming from the cosmology that treats nature as a macrocosm that should be united and be in harmony with the microcosm of the individual.

In Javanese tradition in particular, nature, in this case mountains and volcanoes, plays a central role in the people's worldview.

The late Professor Denys Lombard, in his trilogy Nusa Jawa, pointed out the centrality of mountains and volcanoes in the lives of the people living near Mt. Bromo in East Java.
Lombard highlighted the use of mountains as attributions, such as with giri natha (king of mountains) and parwanatha (ruler of mountains), for the kings in 14th century Javanese literature.

When Islam entered the island, the role of mountains, particularly in the spiritual realm, continued. This is seen in the fact that some of the nine noted Islamic preachers, the Wali Sanga, associated themselves with mountains, including Sunan Gunung Jati (literally "preacher from teakwood mountain") and Sunan Giri ("preacher from a mountain").

Merapi, as the nearest volcano to Yogyakarta, has long been associated with the Yogyakarta and Surakarta kingdoms.

It seems the veneration of the sacred mountain continues to live on in the hearts of the people living around Merapi. This is underscored by Mbah Maridjan, who has refused to evacuate to a temporary shelter.

This refusal is not caused by a desire to engage in civil disobedience, but instead stems from an intuitive reverence for nature deeply rooted in Javanese traditional beliefs, and the faith that nature will not hurt those who revere it.

In the case of Maridjan, as the Yogyakarta court's appointed caretaker for Merapi, or juru kunci (which means key holder), by venturing to the top of the smoldering volcano to pray for the safety of the people, he went beyond his official duties. This, again, was fueled by a reverence for the mountain.

Maridjan's main duty is to tend the shrines around the volcano and to provide services for visiting pilgrims. His official job has nothing to do with the spiritual or mystical, as has been reported by most media.

No wonder the sultan and governor of Yogyakarta, Hamengku Buwono X, was upset to hear that his caretaker had refused to obey the evacuation order. He may also have been displeased to hear this low court employee enjoying so much credit as a spiritual guardian of the sacred volcano.

But Mbah Maridjan certainly deserves credit for his message on preserving Merapi, and for his willingness to risk his safety for his beliefs.

Bernama.com

May 18, 2006 16:11 PM

Of Mount Merapi And Its Keeper Mbah Maridjan

By Mohd Nasir Yusoff
JAKARTA, May 18 (Bernama) -- Almost four weeks have passed since many parties started predicting dates of Mount Merapi's possible eruption.

Despite its days of emitting rumbling sounds, the billowing out of hot ash and gas, and the spewing molten lava having flowed down the dome, the much awaited vertical eruption has yet to occur at the 2,916 metre high volcano.

For all these signs and predictions, only one man seems to be reading the world's most active volcano correctly. And, that too without any scientific aid, except only his basic instinct and the years of spiritual relations he has had with the volcano.

He is none other than Mbah Maridjan, 79, who is aptly appointed by the late Yogyakarta Special Province's Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX as The Keeper of Mount Merapi in 1983 upon the demise of his father, the earlier Keeper in 1982.

Mbah (wise old man or grandfather) Maridjan has been in the limelight for strongly believing his instinct that Mount Merapi would not erupt as yet. And thus, the reason for his refusal to be evacuated together with thousands of other villagers on the dangerous slopes of Merapi.

According to Kompas CyberMedia, Mbah Maridjan, born in 1927 and married to Ponirah, 73, is blessed with 10 children, five of whom are still alive, 11 grandchildren and six great grandchildren, and now lives in Kinahredjo village on the southern slope of Merapi.

He was quoted as saying that being an active volcano it was normal for Mount Merapi, one of the 130 volcanoes in the Pacific Rim of Fire in Indonesia, to rumble at times and to emit from its dome once in a while hot ash and gas known locally as 'wedhus gembel' or shaggy goat (after the form it sometimes takes).

He was quoted by several local newspapers as saying that he would not leave the mountain because as the Keeper he could not be seen as a coward or left for his safety when the safety of others would be his priority.

Mbah Maridjan claimed that he had not received any signs or omens as yet that the mountain was about to unleash its fury even though heat clouds had rolled down the volcano's slopes to distances reaching four kilometres, Antara news agency reported.

True to his words, when thousands of villagers in and around the slopes of Merapi went down the mountain to evacuation centres on safer grounds, it was reported that Mbah Maridjan instead went up to the observation point closest to the volcano's peak, some two kilometres down the dome on Monday.

He spent the whole day there praying to the Almighty to ensure the safety of lives and properties of all the villagers.

And, believe it or not, the volcano's activity slowed down yesterday and the day before, during the overnight visit by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. It was reported that till this afternoon, Mount Merapi appeared calm again and the thousands of villagers have returned to their homes.

As to what was the actual duty of the Keeper of Mount Merapi, not much has been reported and much was surrounded by a sense of mysticism.However many believed that the Yogyakarta Keraton or Palace would only appoint among its 'Abdi Dalem' or internal servants, the most pious and the most spiritually capable to hold the title of the Keeper.

Among the reported duty of Mbah Maridjan is to lead Upacara Labuhan, sort of an annual prayer ritual at the mountain top every 30th of Rajab month on the Muslim calendar, according to Kompas.

Meanwhile, Malaysian students studying at a pondok in Kerinching Village, Magelang some 30 kilometres away from Mount Merapi, said they knew little about Mbah Maridjan except for what they read in the newspapers lately especially, on his refusal to leave the mountain.

"We read that Mbah Maridjan is trusted with the task of the volcano's Keeper but what that means we do not know for sure," said Fadzli Musa, 29, who hailed from Kampung Pandan, Kuala Lumpur."From words of mouth it was said that he was quite extraordinary in the sense that he could communicate spiritually with the volcano but how he did that was beyond our understanding", Fadzli added.

--BERNAMA


AsiaViews, Edition: 19/III/May/2006

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The Keymaster and the Sultan

AsiaViews, Edition: 19/III/May/2006
When Mount Merapi was about to unleash heat clouds, Mbah Maridjan headed deeper into the bubbling cauldron. A resident defying the Sultan’s order?

It was still morning, but the stinging cold climate of Mount Merapi did not affect an elderly man who was sitting on the watu dampit (two large stones) of the Srimanganti platform, located a mere 2.5 kilometers from the summit of Mount Merapi. This 79-year-old man is best known as Mbah Maridjan. He sat cross-legged and faced west, his two palms meeting in front of his face in meditative prayer.

It is not easy to reach the Srimanganti platform, which is usually used as a dais for the labuhan ceremony of the Yogyakarta Keraton (Palace). Climbers know this region of Merapi as Post I. That morning, on Tuesday of last week, Mbah Maridjan set out from his home in Kinahrejo hamlet, using what remained of his failing strength to follow a trail through the woods. Upon reaching the platform, the trail widened. There were no more trees, only the stony slopes of Merapi. There are seven steps which head up to the Srimanganti entry point, which is 5 meters wide. It takes one and a half hours to reach the Srimanganti platform by foot. The platform is only a 6x5-meter area on the slopes of Merapi. Here one can find two large stones where offerings are placed during the labuhan ceremony which Maridjan presides over.

On that day, between early morning and noon, Merapi released 21 heat clouds, to a maximum distance of 2 kilometers. The heat clouds, known as wedhus gembel, bellowed towards Krasak River in the southwest, Boyong River in the south, and Gendol River in the southeast. Strangely, after staying in the Srimanganti platform for two days on the south slopes of Merapi, Maridjan was unscathed by the heat clouds. “I only prayed there,” said this “Keymaster of Merapi” after returning from the Srimanganti platform. It was as if he wanted to defy the Merapi danger alert which has repeatedly been touted by government authorities, including the Yogyakarta Keraton head, Sultan Hamengku Buwono X. For Maridjan, Sultan Hamengku Buwono X is a government official whose words are the same as other officials: a request for residents to immediately evacuate. For this reason, even though he is a royal servant of the palace, he does not have to obey the Sultan, who is also the current Governor of Yogyakarta. Maridjan said that he would only heed the words of the late Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX, the father of Sultan Hamengku Buwono X, who appointed him 24 years ago as the “Keymaster of Merapi”, with the title of Raden Ngabehi Suraksohargo. This means that Maridjan is a rebellious figure who has rejected the call for those living around Mount Merapi to evacuate, even though the volcano is on danger alert. With this status, Merapi could erupt at any moment, and this time it is suspected that there will be a large eruption. Unfortunately, the direction of the eruption cannot be determined. Kinahrejo hamlet, which is located on the south slope, is one place which is likely to bear the brunt of an eruption.

When Maridjan secretly went to the Srimanganti platform, there was a rumor that he was forced to evacuate Kinahrejo. However, residents knew that Maridjan had gone to Merapi. As a result, none of the 19 heads of household and 84 residents of Kinahrejo evacuated. Young children and the elderly preferred to stay on in their homes while praying to God for protection, as Maridjan told them. They have not made any preparations to evacuate. Each morning, residents still search for grass for their dairy cows. In the afternoon, they still milk their cows. These hamlet-goers do not seem to exhibit any concern whatsoever.

While villages around Merapi are now deserted, life in Kinahrejo was still following its usual routine as of Friday of last week. If fact, it has been even busier over the past few days due to many visitors, especially reporters and officers passing through Kinahrejo. The food stall of Bu Panut, 40, which is next to Maridjan’s home, is open for business as usual. The main item on the menu, noodles, is still selling well, an indication that residents have defeated their fear of heat clouds. Take a look at Suparno, 43, a father of two in Kinahrejo. He says that he isn’t staying on because he wants to look macho, but because he is familiar with the disposition of Merapi. Whenever Merapi releases a heat cloud, it never heads in the direction of Kinahrejo. He has been through six eruptions.

"I have lived in the village since I was born until now, and there was never a heat cloud from Merapi which came here,” he said.

Suparno has his reasons to believe so. First, the geger boyo (formation shaped like an alligator’s back) which is on top of Mount Merapi has continued to hold back Merapi’s lava. It is this geger boyo which has been a fortress for the residents of Kinahrejo and vicinity. "If the geger boyo falls, then a heat cloud could come in this direction," said Suparno.

The second reason, he said, is a bit mystical. According to Javanese cosmology, Merapi is one of the palaces in addition to the Kidul Palace in the South Sea and the Sultan’s Palace in Yogyakarta. At this time, Merapi is believed to be cleansing itself of impurities. As is customary, trash is thrown out the back or the side of the palace. No waste has been thrown on the platform. “The palace’s courtyard is in Srimanganti. If it was pulled down, it would reach here. So, it isn’t possible that Merapi’s waste would be thrown in the [front] yard,” said Suparno. If Merapi casts out its trash, it would surely be to the side or rear.

Nevertheless, Suparno does not feel that he is a follower of Maridjan. He and the residents of Kinahrejo have their own beliefs which happen to coincide with those of Mbah Maridjan. “Mbah Maridjan has not asked us to stay here," said Suparno.For Sunardi, 45, a resident of Pelemsari hamlet, his reluctance to evacuate is not to defy the order of Sultan Hamengku Buwono X or the regent. “This is only a debate over how to view Merapi,” he said.

According to Sunardi, Merapi is not going to throw away its waste to this hamlet, which also neighbors Kinahrejo. Even if it does, Merapi will only expel ash. “Merapi’s ash is a blessing because it fertilizes the soil,” he said.The hamlets of Kinahrejo and Pelemsari are in a Level III Disaster Area, which constitute the most dangerous residential areas if Merapi erupts. These two hamlets are only 4.5 kilometers from the summit. However, Puji, head of Palemsari hamlet, has not evacuated. Even so, as the formal leader of the hamlet, Puji has asked the residents to evacuate, and he said that he is obligated to save them. Each day he visits residents who have evacuated, just to check up on them or to escort them out of the area. “This is my responsibility,” he said.
By Syaiful Amin, RFX (Yogyakarta)
Tempo, No. 38/VI/May 23-29, 2006