Tracking Javanese culture in Sulawesi<\/p>\n
Tantri Yuliandini, Tondano, North Sulawesi<\/p>\n
"Hey! You're from Malang, aren't you? This guy's from there too!"
\na young man shouted as I left Al Falah Kyai Modjo mosque in
\nKampung Jawa, Tondano, recently, causing me to pause and wait for
\nhim.<\/p>\n
I had expected to hear a little Javanese, and even the sound
\nof the muezzin calling the faithful to prayer in this heartland
\nof Christian Minahasa. What I had not anticipated was to meet a
\nperson from my own neighborhood.<\/p>\n
A giddy feeling of "it's a small world, after all" came over
\nme. Apparently, Malang -- that East Java mountain town where I
\nwas born -- had a greater hold on me than I realized, even though
\nI left it more than 10 years ago.<\/p>\n
The young man told me that he had stayed here for quite some
\ntime, but unfortunately he was called to pray before I found out
\nanything more.<\/p>\n
Kampung Jawa, in the Tondano region of North Sulawesi, is one
\nof about five villages spread across this predominantly Christian
\nregion that has embraced Islam totally.<\/p>\n
The villagers are the descendants of Javanese fighters from
\nthe Java War (1825 to 1830) exiled here with their leaders,
\nPangeran (Prince) Diponegoro and Kyai Mojo, by the Dutch more
\nthan 170 years ago.<\/p>\n
Pangeran Diponegoro was the son of Yogyakarta Sultan
\nHamengkubuwono III and a concubine, and fought against the Dutch,
\nsparking the Java War.<\/p>\n
The prince was later transferred to Makassar, South Sulawesi,
\nwhere he died in 1855, but his entourage remained in Tondano and
\nthrived.<\/p>\n
Kyai Mojo, leader of the exiles, and his men quickly attracted
\nthe sympathy of local Minahasan leaders, known as walak, who gave
\nthem their daughters to marry, with land as dowries.<\/p>\n
"After the first marriages, their children opened up to more
\nand more Minahasan influence," said one of the village elders,
\nSukirman H. Djafar, who is also the chief of sea and port traffic
\nat Bitung.<\/p>\n
Claiming to be a direct descendant of Sultan Hamengkubuwono II
\n(1792 to 1828), Sukirman said that many traditional Javanese
\ncustoms still existed in Kampung Jawa.<\/p>\n
The traditions still adhered to here include wedding ceremony
\nrituals such as the midodareni (the night when it is believed
\nangels descend to visit the bride) and ngunduh mantu (introducing
\nthe daughter-in-law to the groom's neighborhood), tingkepan (a
\nritual to bless the seventh month of pregnancy), as well as the
\nreligious ritual, muludan (the birth of the prophet Muhammad).<\/p>\n
"Nowadays, community leaders make sure these customary
\ntraditions are upheld," Sukirman said.<\/p>\n
Many Javanese artistic traditions also flourished in Tondano,
\nsuch as the gamelan, but not traditional wayang leather puppet
\nperformances, he said, explaining that leather was difficult to
\nobtain in Tondano at that time.<\/p>\n
The Javanese language that Kyai Mojo and his men spoke soon
\nbecame enmeshed with local Minahasan and Tondanese to became a
\nseparate, unique, dialect.<\/p>\n
A legacy of the time the first Javanese arrived was the Al
\nFalah Kyai Modjo Great Mosque, believed to have been built on the
\nsite where Kyai Mojo used to lead his people in prayer.<\/p>\n
A very old, decorated pulpit inside the mosque bore the
\ninscription of the year 1286 of the Islamic calendar, or 1866
\nA.D.<\/p>\n
Caretaker of the mosque Husnan Kiaydemak said that 1866 was
\nbelieved to have been the year when construction of the mosque
\ncommenced, and that it had been renovated several times since
\nthen.<\/p>\n
"I believe the original building was an exact replica of the
\nDemak Great Mosque," he said, referring to the ancient 16th
\ncentury mosque in Demak, Central Java.<\/p>\n
Today, only the four main pillars of the original mosque
\nremained standing. Some of the original wood from the ceiling
\npaneling has also been kept, but is no longer part of the main
\nbuilding.<\/p>\n
"This bedug is also original," Husnan said, showing me the
\nlarge drum that used to be sounded before the call to prayer.<\/p>\n
Kyai Mojo's grave is also located in this village.
\nUnfortunately, as the light was fading quickly I did not have
\ntime to pay my respects at the hero's final resting place.<\/p>\n
As the muezzin called the faithful to evening prayers, I bade
\nmy fellow native of Malang goodbye and went on my way.<\/p>",
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