Divine inspiration chooses religious leader

Divine inspiration chooses religious leader

While democratic elections have become the mandatory way of
selecting Indonesia's political figures, in the village of Batur
in Bangli, locals appoint their religious leader by going into a
trance.

The Nyanjan Jero Mangku ceremony usually takes place at a
local temple, Pura Ulun Danu and the mediums who communicate with
ancestral spirits are called the premade.

South Batur village head Wayan Sukaida said the spirits told
the premade who would become the new religious leader or pemangku
of Pura Ulun Danu.

During the Nyanjan ritual, the premade are believed to have
magical powers. They cannot be burned by fire or wet by water and
no sharp weapons can hurt them.

Unusually, the premade do not speak in Balinese to converse
with ancestral spirits but in a mixture of Chinese and Sanskrit.
Another person also in a trance interprets what the premade say.

The premade then discuss who of their number will become the
group's speaker and has the right to name the new religious
leader.

Once the leader is named, the village people go to him and ask
him if he is willing to take on the role.

Sukaida said he knew of a villager who had turned down the
role. Three days later, he suffered from a strange disease and
his genitals became swollen. When the man agreed to become a
pemangku he immediately recovered. Suffice to say, he was very
relieved.

"(Now) no one dares to say no if he is appointed during the
Nyanjan ritual, even if he is only a boy."

It's no surprise then that three boys in Pura Ulun Danu lead
religious ceremonies.

The youngest is Jero Mangku Kadek, born on April 5, 1995. The
boy, a second-year student of an elementary school in Batur
village, was appointed as a pemangku four months ago. He is now
able to conduct several rituals and has some knowledge about
offerings.

Kadek said he still had some problems learning all the rituals
and mantras but was optimistic he could master them with time. He
has never complained that unlike the other children, he has to
study at the temple.

"I find peace when I am in the temple even though it is more
difficult to learn the mantra in Sanskrit than following the
lessons at school," he said.

Kadek said three days before he was appointed as a pemangku,
he had a dream about wearing white clothing, the same clothes
worn in temple rituals.

"It seemed the dream was a sign from the ancestors. Besides, I
also always wanted to go to the Ulun Danu temple of Batur," he
said.

Jero Mangku Budhayana also had a strange dream before he
became a pemangku. In his dream, a priest whispered in his ear
telling him he was to become a spiritual leader. Budhayana
ignored the dream. But two days before the Nyanjan ritual, his
neck began to ache and he had a desire to take a bath and go to
the temple to join the Nyanjan procession.

Before going to the temple, he went to borrow a destar (a
headband worn by a man who performs a prayer) from his brother.
His brother offered him a red one but he refused it. Budhayana
also refused when the brother offered him a black destar and his
mind was troubled with questions.

Budhayana could not understand why he wanted a white destar,
normally worn by religious leaders. "Surely laymen shouldn't wear
such clothing," he wondered.

Finally, he went to the temple without wearing a destar at
all.

Not long after he arrived, he was appointed as a religious
leader. When he accepted the job the pain in his neck suddenly
disappeared.

A senior religious leader, Jero Gede Alitan, who is now 70
years old, still remembered the day he was appointed a pemangku
in 1958.

He was working as a personal driver and he was changing the
oil in his car when several people wearing traditional outfits
dragged him out from under the vehicle.

Alitan was confused as the people cleaned his body and dressed
him in white clothes, topped off with a white destar. They told
him he had been appointed as a pemangku for the Ulun Danu temple.
Even though he was shocked and felt he was not ready for the
duty, he accepted the offer.

It turned out, however, Alitan became so stressed in his new
job that he escaped from the temple during the fasting month of
mabratha. When the villagers found out, they immediately hit the
kentongan (a bamboo tube) to raise the alert. Alitan was captured
a short time later and afterwards the temple was tightly guarded.

Alitan said it took him six months to face up to his new
reality. He was no longer restless and felt peaceful instead.

"I think the boys who are appointed as a pemangku must also
initially suffer from mental distress but the power from the
other world, from God, means this suffering fades away in time,"
he said.

Asked about the education of the children who become pemangku,
Alitan said they had to go to school like other children.

"Those who cannot afford to pay their school fees will be
subsidized by the temple so they can go to, at least, senior high
school. But I try to ensure they continue their education to
university," he said.

Children who become pemangku and have been "baptized",
however, have to wear a special destar in school in order to
ensure they are not bullied by other students. -- N. Jagadhita