'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.