Babakan Madang monastery offers peace and tranquility

Text by Yudha Kartohadiprodjo, photos Mulkan Salmona

JAKARTA (JP): Two hundred years ago, Chinese migrants moved to the area seeking refuge when they were targeted in a killing spree by Dutch colonialists in Batavia (now Jakarta).

Now, every month, on the full-moon night, processions of cars turn off the Jagorawi toll road at exit number 23. Even though the exit is shared by the Sentul auto race track and weekend get- away sites, the motorcades are heading for somewhere else.

They are heading for a more subtle and serene destination: the Babakan Madang monastery in Citeureup, West Java. The devotees are mostly Chinese-Indonesians.

Unlike most places of worship that are located within the community of their followers, this Buddhist monastery stands along in the middle of a four-hectare vacant lot. Twelve pesantren (Moslem boarding schools) also stand in the same village.

Within and beyond its red gate, the 200-year-old monastery portrays a harmonious relationship between religious believers and syncretists.

The monastery started as a small temple built by a local landlord. Its main purpose was to sustain the agricultural community in the area.

Two wooden panels in the compound state that the monastery was built in the early 1700s, when the Dutch colonial administration designated the area as a rice-producing zone.

In his Historical Sites of Jakarta, historian A. Heuken says that from the late 17th century to the early 18th century, the Dutch had difficulty in finding workers to build their colony in Batavia. Due to its enmity against Pangeran (prince) Jayakarta, locals refused to cooperate with the colonialists and the Dutch imported workers from mainland China.

The policy backfired after the Dutch were overwhelmed by the large number of jobless Chinese who streamed into Batavia.

"At the same time, a great many Chinese had run away from the Manchu government on the mainland," said Myra Sidarta, a well- known sinologist and lecturer at University of Indonesia.

After the 1740 bloodshed, which resulted in the deaths of more than 5,000 Chinese in Batavia, the Chinese were not allowed to reside within its walls. While some settled in the area known today as Chinatown Glodok, others chose to become farmers outside Batavia. The Citereup area was one of the destinations.

Within the monastery complex, in the furthest corner of the temple, stands two chambers with lower walls. The chambers, called petilasan kramat, a Javanese term meaning sacred sites, are dedicated to local mythological figures. Some of the figures are deified historical figures, while others are supernatural.

The presence of these figures are marked by epigraphs and small monuments lining the rooms. Names such as Mbah Ratu Penganten (Godmother of Brides), Nyai Putri (Princess Nyai) and Mbah Dato' (Wise man) are inscribed on the stone.

"Many of the monastery's visitors go straight to these rooms," said Cecep Adhisaputra, a member of the caretaker board of the monastery.

Many Buddhist monasteries around Jakarta also have petilasan kramat similar to those of Babakan Madang. Mbah Djugo, one of the deities found in Babakan Madang, can be found in five other Chinese temples around Jakarta. Due to the assimilation process, many of the monastery people could not trace the origin of the deified man.

Yet, the name was mentioned in Les Chinois De Jakarta, temples et vie collective (The Chinese of Jakarta, Temples and Communities), a book published in 1970 by Claudine Salmon and Denys Lombard. Mbah Djugo was actually a former military officer from mainland China in the early 19th century who fled to Java and finally retired to Kawi Mountain, East Java.

Although deifying a prominent figure exists not only in the Javanese culture, the inscribed name indicates that the Chinese culture had assimilated with the Javanese culture. This also suggests how the Chinese and indigenous cultures interacted in the 18th century.

"Coming to Indonesia on their own, many young Chinese men in the early days tended to look for young local women as wives. The interaction between the two cultures started in the courtyard of places of worship, where ceremonies took place." said Myra. She noted that the results of this interaction are apparent from the slang in local dialects.

However, the sinophobic attitude of Soeharto's New Order regime had led to repression on Chinese culture in Indonesia.

A caretaker at another monastery, Tang Tjoan, said, "Even though the custom of setting off fireworks came from a Chinese tradition, monasteries are forbidden from following this practice. So what many of us did was follow our Moslem brethren and light the fireworks during the Ramadhan month."

Kana, the Babakan Madang village chief, said that he would do anything to maintain harmony in his area.

"When the monastery's officials said that they wanted to distribute sembako (basic commodities) some time ago, I insisted that they should do it in the village meeting hall to avoid any unwanted incident." said Kana.

Although ethnic hatred is smoldering in Jakarta and other cities, this village rarely sees any racial or religious tension. He said he did not expect a change in attitude as long as the visitors followed the local customs.

"When you are a guest, you have to follow the local tradition." Kana said.