Magic cannon 'blasts away' infertility

By Ida Indawati Khouw

This 53rd article on old and protected buildings in Jakarta is about a "magic" cannon called Si Jagur. The weapon's magical power, according to believers, can make women fertile and have the children of their dreams.

JAKARTA (JP): The antique cannon that sits idle in Fatahillah square in Kota, West Jakarta, is no ordinary weapon. Many believe it was charmed and can render its magical power to help infertile women.

The cannon now receives less public attention, partly because it is concealed in the growing number of vendors selling in front of the Jakarta Museum of History. This makes supervision difficult and the weapon has already lost its famous cap, which symbolizes fertility.

In the past, the cannon was worshiped like a god. Believers came and made offerings. Kneeling beside it, they prayed for success in their career and women who were childless wished for a baby.

What women would do after praying was to climb on the cannon and straddle it for a while. Then they went home to see if their prayer was answered.

The belief of its magical power of granting fertility may have originated from the cannon's cap, which was in the form of a clenched fist with the thumb poking out between the middle finger and the index finger, the symbol for sexual intercourse.

Tales about its magical power circulated not only among those who believed in superstition, but it was also discussed in nonfiction work.

Like what always happens with things considered mystical, the history of Si Jagur is vague because there are many versions. But almost all agree that the cannon was first found at the nearby Pasar Ikan (Fish Market) or Kota Intan area.

"Because it weighed so much, the cannon was forgotten or just left behind when the castle of Batavia was demolished by Daendels in 1809," Adolf Heuken noted in his book Historical Sites of Jakarta.

Archeologist Candrian Attahiyat said cannons were discarded after the rapid development of high-tech military weapons.

"That's why Daendels used most of them as mounds for the construction of the new city of Weltevreden (around the present Central Jakarta area)," he said.

He said Si Jagur was recast from several cannons as expressed by the Latin inscription on it: ex me ipsa renata sum (Out of myself I was reborn).

There is no explanation why the cap of the gun was crafted in the fertility symbol.

Heuken said it was a Portuguese cannon which was brought to Batavia (the old name of Jakarta) by the Dutch after they conquered Malacca in 1641.

"Then it was placed on a bastion of the old castle controlling the harbor," he said.

But another version was told by K.C. Kruq in his book De Geschiedenis van het Heilig Kanon te Batavia (The History of the Holy Cannon in Batavia).

He referred to the Javanese story that Si Jagur was one of three magic cannons which were gifts of homage from a Portuguese company to the Prince of Jakatra (the ancient name of Jakarta before the Dutch era) during the era of the Javanese Demak kingdom.

The three weapons were named Ki Amoek, Kjai Setama or Si Jagur and Njai Setomi.

During the great King Sultan Agung era, Kjai Setama and Njai Setomi were brought to the ancient Mataram palace in Central Java and installed on the left and right hand side of the palace's Brajanala gate.

But Kjai Setama did not stay long in Mataram. It was brought back to Jakarta, because on every Friday and Tuesday Kliwon (the fifth day of a five-day week on the Javanese calendar) it appeared in the dreams of the watchmen as continuously crying, scaring those in charge.

Njai Setomi, however, stayed in Mataram and did not cause any problems, so it became an heirloom of the Mataram palace.

Kruq did not mention further about Ki Amoek, but a book titled Jakarta Tempo Doeloe (Jakarta in the Olden Days) says it is located in the Banten area of West Java.

Another version

Heuken had another version which was also rooted in the Javanese one.

A king of the Sundanese Pajajaran kingdom once had a bad dream in which he heard the thunder of a powerful weapon unknown to his people.

He ordered his patih (prime minister) Kyai Setomo to look for the weapon. He even threatened to sentence him to death if he failed to produce the wonder weapon in the king's dream.

The patih went home and discussed his sad fate with his wife. They then closed up their home to meditate. After waiting some days in vain for news from his patih, the king became angry.

He sent his soldiers to search Kyai Setomo's house, but they only found two large, strange-looking pipes. When the king rushed to see the strange objects, he immediately recognized them as the weapons he heard in his dream.

Kyai Setomo and his wife Njai Setomi were transformed into two cannons.

Not long after this happened King Sultan Agung heard about the two cannons and ordered them to be brought immediately to the capital of Surakarta. But the male cannon, Kyai Setomo, could not be moved from the sultan's court and it fled on its own to Batavia.

Because it was night he could not enter the castle of Batavia, which was closed. So he stayed at the gates. The next morning the people of Batavia were very astonished and regarded the cannon as kramat (holy).

The residents offered little paper umbrellas to protect it from the day's heat. They called it Kyai Jagur. Nyai Setomi was taken to Surakarta.

In 1971, Si Jagur was moved to its present site for display in Fatahillah square.