'Mbah' Maridjan keeps faith on Mt. Merapi

'Mbah' Maridjan keeps faith on Mt. Merapi

By Heru Prasetya

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Mbah Maridjan takes a deep drag on his
cigarette, the very picture of serenity.

As Mount Merapi rumbles ominously, threatening to explode and
bury the surrounding area in a blanket of lava and ash, the old
man sits calmly while others tremble.

His hair is gray and his skin wrinkled by his years, but Mbah
Maridjan, the gatekeeper of Merapi, knows the volcano better than
anyone.

"It's no problem," he said last week, speaking in refined
Javanese at his home in the hamlet of Kinahrejo, Umbulharjo,
Sleman, on the slopes of the volcano.

"I haven't received any signs from nature. Everything is
normal. Just pray that all turns out safely."

Mbah Maridjan (mbah is the Javanese honorific for an older
man) is the person who others come to when Merapi, one of the
"big 10" of the world's most dangerous active volcanoes, begins
to menace.

Although he is unsure of his exact date of birth on the
Gregorian calendar (his identity card lists Feb. 5, 1927,), he
has spent his entire life in Merapi's shadow.

"I have lived here since I was small. My father was the
gatekeeper, too. So, I know very well what eyang (grandfather)
Merapi wants. Besides, I became a gatekeeper because His
Excellency the Sultan of Yogyakarta, Hamengkubuwono X, assigned
this job to me for which I am responsible.

"This is a glorious duty. There is no reason for me to run
away from the responsibility. If I leave this job, I betray it."

His appointment is based on a decree from the kingdom of
Yogyakarta, and he has the status of a high-ranking court servant
with the title Raden Ngabehi Suraksohargo. He must be ready to
receive orders from the sultan.

While his father, Hartoredjo, was still the gatekeeper,
Maridjan was appointed his deputy in 1974. He learned the rituals
needed to placate the spirits of the volcano, and how to read the
signs of nature. A year after his father's death in 1982,
Maridjan took over the duties of gatekeeper. Maridjan still
frequently hikes to the top of the volcano, able to keep apace
with people half his age.

For his services, he receives a nominal amount of Rp 3,000 per
month, still a vast improvement from his starting salary of Rp
150 per month 26 years ago.

"That is the salary of each and every palace servant with the
title ngabehi. For the other staff, say the jajar (rank and
file), it can be lower. To a palace servant, the important thing
is that he or she serves the sultan," Maridjan said.

He receives an additional income of tips from people seeking
to communicate with the volcano.

"But I have no fixed rate, nor do I ask for tips. Why?
Because all of it is part of my duties as a gatekeeper. If they
give me tips, I thank them, but if they do not, it is OK with
me."

Kingdom

Merapi holds a sacred place in Javanese cosmology, part of a
tripartite which also includes Yogyakarta and the sea south of
Central Java which is locally called the Indonesian Ocean.

All three are believed to be home to kingdoms.

"Merapi is not just a mountain because there's another thing
that is invisible to the naked eye," the father of six explained.
"There is an invisible kingdom which is ruled by Panembahan Prabu
Jagat. Like any other kingdoms, there is a public square and
soldiers that are confined to quarters."

People who scoff at the belief must be careful, he warned.

"Those who do not (believe) should not belittle it. When
belittling it, one tends to act improperly. Merapi has special
characteristics capable of causing difficulty to anyone acting
improperly."

All the volcano needed, he added, was respect. People must not
complain when they are at Merapi because the complaint will
probably come true. For example, a person who feels cold at the
volcano, and complains outloud about it, will feel even colder,
he added.

"In principle, one must not disturb eyang Merapi. Let alone if
one happens to be climbing to the top of Merapi and keeps talking
about wedus gembel (pyroclastic flow), one can be in real danger.
It would be better to be silent or to talk about something else."

Maridjan said he never considered leaving his duties due to
fears of his own personal safety when the volcano was active.

"If Merapi erupts and I die, I will accept it with all my
heart and soul. I am not afraid of dying for the sake of a
responsibility. I never want to betray nobody or anything. Dying
is a divine decree, isn't it? If God wants me to die, I will die,
no matter where."

He said it was a view shared by the other residents of
Kinahrejo.

"It has penetrated their hearts that as people who were born
here, who obtain their food from the land of Merapi, to die for
Merapi is only natural. Kinahrejo citizens feel it is their
destiny that they were born in order to guard, and to become the
fortress for the safety of Keraton Ngayogyokarto as well as the
kawula (nation) of Mataram."

During eruptions in November 1994, January 1997 and the recent
rumblings, most of the people stayed put even though Maridjan
told them: "Whoever wants to go down and take refuge somewhere
else, please do so. I will still be here, to pray together with
the residents who want to remain."

He said his attitude was not intended to oppose the
government's urging for the people to relocate for their safety.
All he wants, he said, is the government's understanding of the
beliefs of the residents.

With the afternoon slipping into evening, Maridjan repeated
his message for people to respect Merapi and its environment.

"Please tell everyone, particularly youths, that they must not
draw graffiti in the area of Merapi. It's dangerous."

As he inhaled on his cigarette, his spirit and belief in the
sanctity of Merapi were clearly evident in his steady gaze.