A trip back in time with ancient manuscripts
A trip back in time with ancient manuscripts
Moch. N. Kurniawan and Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post,
Singaraja, Bali
The hot sun was about to set in the horizon while a mild breeze
swept Gedong Kitrya at the former palace complex of the northern
Balinese kingdom of Buleleng as if chanting a lullaby to the huge
collection of lontar, palm leaf manuscripts housed in this quaint
building.
Gedong Kirtya is one of the country's few institutions that
collects lontar but its importance lies in the fact its staff not
only collect but also preserve, transcribe and transliterate the
manuscripts.
Lontar is an ancient type of document inscribed on palm
leaves, a kind of palmyra plant. A single document may be made of
several lontar leaves delicately and intricately carved on both
sides of the leaf. It may contain text or pictures on each side
of a single leaf.
As a written document, lontar is comparable to those made of
papyrus reeds used by the ancient Egyptians.
Gedong Kirtya boasts 6,500 lontar scrolls and also houses
8,200 titles of old books in its vast array of collection. Most
of the books date back to the 17th century and were written
mostly in European languages such as Dutch, French and English.
Some of the recent ones are written in Indonesian as well.
According to the curator of Gedong Kirtya, I Gusti Bagus
Sudiasta, the institution was established on June 2, 1928 by the
Dutch governor of Bali and Lombok based in Singaraja, L.J.J.
Caron.
"It was named Stichting Liefrinck van der Tuuk to honor two
Dutch scientists who dedicated their lives to studying Bali, F.A.
Liefrinck and N. van der Tuuk," Sudiasta told The Jakarta Post.
Both scientists were working under the auspices of the
Buleleng king, I Gusti Putu Djelantik, and the foundation's
establishment received support from other Balinese kings as well
as some from Lombok. Those kingdoms contributed many of their own
collections to the newly established foundation.
The king later lifted replaced the name Stichting with Kirtya,
which literally means a foundation or an institution.
Those kingdoms contributed many of their own collections to
the newly established foundation.
The lontar collection has been classified into seven divisions
of lontar themes. It includes Weda (Hindu holy books), religious
teachings, Wariga, Itihasa, Babad, Tantri and Lelampahan.
The third division, Wariga, is essentially a compendium of the
basic sciences of Wariga covering astrology and astronomy, and
Tutur deals with religious teachings. Also included in the Wariga
division is Kanda, which compiles practical knowledge on such
topics as traditional architecture, language, black magic and
white magic.
One of the most important contents in the Wariga division is
Usada, which explains Balinese traditional medicine.
"The public can access our collection to get the information
according to their needs. Most of them were written for pedanda
(Hindu high priests) and balian (Balinese traditional medicine
men)," said Sudiasta.
"We have transcribed some 3,000 titles and transliterated some
10 percent of them, but we need more staff to complete our job."
The transcription and transliteration from ancient Balinese to
Indonesian allows people from all walks of life to get the
information they need from the lontar, unlike in the past when
the contents were limited to only royal families and priests.
Currently, the foundation has 10 staff members who all are
able to read and write the Balinese alphabet but there are only
five who have mastered the art of inscribing lontar.
The need for more staff equipped with the skill to inscribe on
lontar is becoming imminent as the center has yet to fully
complete its collection.
"There are some 300 titles that are not yet included in our
collection according to our colleagues in the Netherlands. Local
pura (temple) or individuals own most of the titles scattered
throughout Bali."
Gedong Kirtya's staff also have to make copies of lontar owned
by individuals to complete its collection as most of the owners
will not allow the institution to have them.
The staff must also work tirelessly to maintain and preserve
the collection.
"We preserve our collection in a traditional way. For lontar,
we apply a special traditional mixture to keep the inscriptions
readable," said Sudiasta.
Singaraja's hot and humid climate may likely worsen the
condition of the library's important collections. In a tropical
climate, preserving and caring for a library's collection
including ancient lontar manuscripts is costly and difficult.
Natural enemies like animals, insects, mold, fungi as well as
other chemical substances caused by air pollution may gradually
destroy the collections.
"While lontar can survive longer, we are really concerned with
our book collection. We can only keep them in closed shelves."
The library was almost destroyed in October 2000, when
thousands of supporters of the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) ransacked and destroyed almost all
government and public building in Singaraja.
The PDI Perjuangan supporters were furious because party
chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri had been defeated by
Abdurrahman Wahid in the presidential election.
"I cannot imagine if Gedong Kirtya had been burned down. It
was lucky that all the priceless pieces were safe in the puri
(palace) next door, otherwise we could have lost pieces of our
heritage," one staff member recalled.
Sudiasta admitted that younger Balinese did not show
enthusiasm to learn the contents of the lontar scrolls let alone
to learn the skill of making them.
In an effort to increase students' interest in lontar, Gedong
Kirtya organizes an annual nyastra Bali or Balinese literary
festival for all students.
The center also invites school students to make visits during
school breaks so they can gain a better understanding of how to
make and conserve lontar manuscripts.
"Such visits are an opportunity for our staff to introduce our
collection to the students. This way we hope that some of them
will want to learn the skills to work with lontar."