Kampung Naga: A traditional village in West Java<\/p>\n
Text and photos by Dewi Anggraeni<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): It is always fascinating to find a community
\nadhering to its own strict customs and traditions in the midst of
\na bigger community whose civilization is moving in leaps and
\nbounds -- albeit in a very uneven manner -- into a modern era. To
\nan outsider, the questions why, and how successful their
\nendeavors are, often present themselves. Kampung Naga, a
\ncommunity of 101 families, between Garut and Tasikmalaya, in
\nNeglasari district stirs this type of curiosity.<\/p>\n
The long answer to the first question however has to be
\ninferred, because if you ask the inhabitants, you will get a
\nshort answer, \"Because we want to.\" And if you feel like being
\nobtrusive enough and ask a further why, you will be told,
\n\"Because we are comfortable this way.\"<\/p>\n
Since we are not in an anthropology forum, let us move to the
\nnext question: how successful are they in maintaining the purity
\nof their traditions?<\/p>\n
Physically, while most villages in West Java more or less
\nblend into the wider environment, Kampung Naga, occupying an area
\nof 10 hectare, stands out as a separate entity in the district.
\nIt has a distinct appearance, and its geographical position in a
\nvalley provides it with a natural buffer zone from the \"outside
\nworld\", if the term could be used. To descend into the valley,
\nvisitors have to walk the nearly 400 steps from the road level
\nentrance.<\/p>\n
So the powerful feeling of stepping into a different world
\nhelps prepare visitors to accept the unique qualities of the
\nvillage, especially as you descend those winding set of steps you
\nalso see in passing, wet rice-fields in perfect rustic settings.<\/p>\n
Once in the valley, the ambience is so quaint and peaceful
\nthat an added aspect of stepping back in time enhances the
\noverall impression of having left \"civilization as we know it\".
\nSome women can be seen on their way to the communal well to draw
\nwater, either for washing or drinking. They are wearing batik
\nsarongs, and on top, some have modern shirts or blouses, other
\nhave the more traditional kebayas. Around you are only the sounds
\nof nature, human voices and their daily activities, and the
\noccasional animal.<\/p>\n
In the village common several elders are sitting chatting,
\nsome smoking cigarettes. If you discount the modern clothes on
\nthe women and the young men chatting at the entrance, the
\ncigarettes would be the first indication of the 'tentacles' of
\nthe outside world.<\/p>\n
The elders receive you, rather than welcome you. They are
\nfriendly and happy to strike up a conversation with you, but not
\nparticularly eager to please you. A request to look around the
\nvillage is given with a smile and a nod, an elder will happily
\ntake you to see the interior of his house and explain the
\nfunction of the rooms inside, but a request to spend the night in
\nthe village will receive a polite refusal. The only way to be
\npart of this community is by marrying into it.<\/p>\n
You have no need to see other houses, because they are all the
\nsame. They are even lined up in a uniform direction: north-south,
\nallegedly so that each house can have the benefit of the morning
\nsun. Since all the roofs, made of palm fiber, are black, -- one
\nof the traditions -- if you look down from the top of the steps
\nat the entrance, the village presents a dramatic sight.<\/p>\n
Every house has two doors: one to the living area, the sitting
\nroom and bedroom, the other to the kitchen and pantry where
\nuncooked rice is kept. The kitchen and pantry tend to be dark
\nwhile the living areas are brighter and airier. Everything is
\nclean and functional with no frills visible, yet there is ample
\nair of comfort and satisfaction around.<\/p>\n
All tools and implements used in their daily lives are made of
\nnatural materials. Even the mat-making equipment is made of
\nuntreated wood. It is astonishing therefore, to see old radios
\nand television sets in some houses, though they are operated on
\nbatteries, since the village has no electricity. The community
\nchooses not to use electric power.<\/p>\n
So some people do follow news of the outside world, even
\ntelenovelas. And since there are no schools in the village,
\nchildren go out to school in Neglasari village, which no doubt
\nexplains the modern clothes worn by some, especially the young.<\/p>\n
The community are also politically aware. They confess to
\nsupporting various parties such as the Indonesian Democratic
\nparty of Struggle (PDI-P), the National Awakening Party (PKB),
\nthe United Development Party (PPP) and others, though it is hard
\nto imagine they become passionate in their political beliefs.
\nTribal traditions, they say, still dominate their lives, above
\nall other aspects.<\/p>\n
Another point which adds to the layers of unreality of the
\ncommunity and its village is the fact that nobody knows where
\nthey came from, or why they are called the Naga (dragon) tribe.
\nAccording to Muim, one of the elders, nearly all the houses,
\nincluding important heirlooms and historical objects which may
\nhave been able to explain their origins, were burned down in 1956
\nby the rebels of DI\/TII or the Indonesian Islamic Army.<\/p>\n
One interesting point of reference, which may be significant
\nor purely unrelated historically, is that the headdresses worn by
\nthe men are made of batik cloth from Yogya or Solo in Central
\nJava, instead of those from Garut, which is only down the road.
\n\"We don't know why. They have always been like this as far as our
\nmemory goes back,\" said an elder.<\/p>\n
Another tradition which is not obvious is that the line of
\ninheritance is through the mothers, though the men are still the
\npower-holders. Maybe that is also why, during our visit, on a
\nSaturday, not one man was seen working, yet some women were
\nworking in the rice-fields.<\/p>\n
While many questions find no ready answers, one thing is
\ncertain, Kampung Naga is able to remain a great deal more
\ntraditional than other communities in the district, in an
\nenigmatic way, it seems. They are not, at least they do not
\nappear, hostile, to outsiders or outside influences, yet
\nmysteriously, they have managed to keep the number of houses the
\nsame throughout decades.<\/p>\n
And they are attractive to tourists, most of whom are not
\nconcerned with the village's history, but with the fact that they
\nare culturally unique.<\/p>",
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