Mother Nature honored in annual rite

Mother Nature honored in annual rite

Tarko Sudarno, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

"Visit our village on Sunday. There will be all kinds of
festivities and we will dine together. Afterwards, we may go to
the Semar cave or visit Sendang Pancuran spring to take a bath
and wish that we get a pretty wife," said a boy from the village
of Tunggul Arum on the southern slopes of Mt. Merapi, some 40
kilometers north of Yogyakarta in Central Java.

The boy was right. On Sunday, April 14, 2002, or Sapar 1st in
the Javanese calendar, the villagers of Tunggul Arum organized a
village rite called Merti Bumi.

Early in the morning on that Sunday, a festive mood was
already in the air. The women were busy cooking, while the men
were engrossed preparing ancak bamboo, a bamboo container used to
carry the dishes in.

However, it was the children who were busiest of all,
scampering here and there. Finally, the day they had dreamed of
for quite a while had arrived. They flitted to and fro, playing
around the village hall. Once in a while, they came close to the
giant rice cone or gunungan placed in the middle of the building.
They seemed impatient for the festivities to begin.

The Merti Bumi rite is in honor of mother earth and is
annually conducted by the inhabitants of Tunggul Arum village
during the Javanese month of Sapar.

This year, for the first time, the rite was held on a grander
scale than usual. It was held at the site of the village where
they used to live, before Mt. Merapi erupted in 1961 and
threatened the settlement, which meant the inhabitants had to be
evacuated to this new village called Tunggul Arum.

It is to express their thanks to God for keeping them away
from the volcanic eruption of Mt. Merapi, that the villagers
organize Merti Bumi each year. This rite, believed to have been
passed down by their ancestors, is also intended to express their
gratitude to God for bestowing upon them fertile soil and an
abundance of water on the slopes of Mt. Merapi.

"The good fortune bestowed upon us is reason enough for us to
express our gratitude to God. We must always reflect upon the
existence of Tunggul Arum. This is the way in which we can always
remember our ancestors for their hard work in setting up this
village," said Subardi, one of the elders of Tunggul Arum in his
welcoming address.

The procession begins from the village hall. Two gunungan,
plus multifarious offerings were paraded around the village and
then proceeded to the old village. Leading the procession were
the carriers of the heirlooms, namely kyai tunggul wulung spears
and kyai pring wali canes. After them came ulemas, carriers of
the gunungan, a group of people carrying nasi bancakan, numbering
about 150 people, then lay villagers and finally the art troupe.

During the procession, which covered a distance of some 3
kilometers, the line of villagers extended some 500 meters. All
the way, there was accompanying music from various instruments
like tambourines, jathilan gamelan and hymns were sung.

About half an hour later, the procession came to a flat-
looking dry field. Locals call this place plataran, meaning a
spacious yard, In the middle of this plataran stood quite a large
bamboo altar, on which two gunungan and hundreds of small cone-
shaped rice dishes prepared by each participating village family
were placed.

When everything was ready, a dance depicting offerings was
performed by the local village maids to signal the beginning of
this rite. They danced while spreading roses around the altar,
after which the village representatives said a prayer to God.

As soon as the prayer was finished, the villagers rushed to
collect for themselves the two gunungan containing various crops
such as Zalacca palm fruit, avocado, pineapple, rose apples and
rice cones. They elbowed their way, pushing and shoving, even
scolding each other to get their share of gunungan. Yet, when the
whole thing was over, they remained as friendly to each other as
ever.

What they had obtained through pushing and shoving was finally
eaten together. Then hundreds of rice cone dishes were equally
distributed to those present.

"Next year, we will organize this rite again. The district
tourism service has included this rite in Sleman district's
tourism calendar," said Tomon HW, a Merapi slope activist.

A tourist visiting this area may savor the beauty of our
natural surroundings, which includes a cave and a spring. "The
spring is called Sendang Pancuran and the cave, Gus Semar. These
two places have attracted a lot of tourists. More tourists will
come here if local tourism is better organized."

Local people believe these two places possess magical
properties. Water from the spring can help you remain young and
obtain a partner for life. The calm, subdued atmosphere of the
cave is the right place for meditation.

Local beliefs aside, the Merti Bumi rite and the beauty of the
natural surroundings allows you to reflect upon the beauty of a
life.