Story of Kongco lives on in Balinese temples

Story of Kongco lives on in Balinese temples

By Myra Sidharta and Claudine Salmon

SINGARAJA, North Bali (JP): Who is this man, who has three
temples in Bali and four in East Java devoted to him?

According to a manuscript dated 1880, written by the guardian
of a temple in Buleleng, Singaraja, he started as an humble
skipper on a junk that sailed along the coast of Java, together
with his two younger brothers (the manuscript is now in the Royal
Institute for Linguistics and Anthropology in the Netherlands).

After his boat sank and his two brothers died, he went to
Blambangan, in the most easternmost corner of Java, where he
joined other Chinese settlers.

According to the manuscript, Kongco, (The Ancestor) as he is
now called, was hired by the king of Blambangan to construct a
palace in Macanputih, near Banyuwangi in East Java.

Hearing of the assignment, the king of Mengwi in Bali ordered
the craftsman to come to his capital in order to build a new
palace. Due to envy on the part of the Balinese, the king was
incited to order the murder Kongco.

But Kongco and the two Balinese appointed to kill him decided
to flee to Blambangan. After his return to Blambangan, Kongco
went to the summit of Gunung Sembulungan where he disappeared.

The second stage of the account begins about 40 years to 50
years later, with the appearance of Kongco in the guise of a
Balinese satria (knight). This man was among the captives on a
big ship carrying slaves from Bali to Batavia, present-day
Jakarta.

When the vessel arrived opposite Gunung Sembulungan, it was as
if it were bound by supernatural power and could not move. The
satria entered into a trance, managed to free himself from his
shackles and said in Chinese that he was no other than Kongco and
that his dwelling was on the summit of the Sembulungan.

He jumped off the ship and, after various mishaps, retold his
life story to the Chinese of Banyualit and made it known that he
wanted to stay for ever in Blambangan. The local Chinese decided
to build a house in his honor in Lateng. This house, we are told,
was moved to Banyuwangi after the Dutch East Indies Company
entered the country in 1767. Here ends the legend of Kongco.

According to another version told to the authors in 1999 by
Anak Agung Gede Ajeng Tisna Mangun from Gede Mengwi temple, the
architect made the outline of the garden by digging streams
bordering the garden. He then drew up a plan for the garden and
gave instructions on which plants and trees should be planted.
After that he left and was given two men to accompany him to the
seaside, but these men never returned.

Obviously, the more one investigates, the more versions come
to light, for the story of Kongco is still very much alive. Many
Chinese as well as Balinese -- and possibly also some Javanese --
are still able to retell the story in full and each time with
some variations.

Buleleng

Kongco became the protecting ancestor of the Chinese and his
cult spread gradually. The three temples in Bali are located in
Buleleng, which is today Singaraja, Kuta and Tabanan.

Of interest is the fact that the temple of Buleleng has
retained its Chinese style, as well as numerous tablets and
panels. Its counterpart in Kuta, however, has discarded all the
dated Chinese inscriptions which were still there in the 1970s.

It means that the community attached to the temple has
undergone a "Balinization" process. This phenomenon is even more
obvious in Tabanan, where the temple has been remodeled in order
to appear more Balinese.

In Buleleng, this sanctuary, also called Leeng Gwan Bio or
Temple of the Source of Efficiency, is obviously the largest and
the richest in Bali. The latest repair dates from 1970, as a
wooden tablet bearing the names of the donors attests. It is
located close to the seaside and has a courtyard in front.

Apart from the local devotees, either peranakan (predominantly
assimilated ethnic Chinese) or totok (those who retain their
Chinese customs and heritage) and mainly native to Southern
Fujian, there were worshipers from overseas as the wooden panels
attest. This fact casts light on the spread of the cult devoted
to Kongco and, consequently, on the Chinese commercial networks.

The Kongco temple in Kuta

Although the Chinese have been settled in Kuta for ages, very
little is known about the history of the community. The Danish
merchant Mads Lange, who settled near Kuta in 1839, relied on
Chinese agents who organized the local interisland trade centered
on Kuta.

Mads Lange himself married a woman of Chinese descent and
their daughter married the Sultan of Johore. From this data, we
may infer that there was a significant Chinese community in the
18th century.

The temple dedicated to Kongco, also called Leeng Gwan Bio,
seems to date from the second part of the 19th century. Compared
to its counterpart in Buleleng, it possesses very few
inscriptions. A pair of tablets dated 1876, and an inscription
listing the donors who contributed to the repairs of 1936, were
on display in the 1970s but have now disappeared.

Since the late 1970s, there has been an apparent tendency to
associate the cult of Kongco with that dedicated to Buddha whose
effigy, apparently brought from Thailand, is displayed in the
courtyard on a stone pedestal. The sanctuary has been given the
new name of Vihara Dharmayana.

Alongside the Chinese offerings of fruits and delicacies
placed on the altars, there are also to be found numerous
delicate sesajen (Balinese-style offerings), consisting of
flowers, as in Tabanan.

Tabanan

In the late 1960s, the temple, which was still quite plain,
fell into disrepair and no dated inscriptions were displayed. The
temple was reconstructed in 1984 thanks to money donated by the
community, but also to the profits made, at the instigation of
the committee running the temple, by preparing food for wedding
celebrations. The latter were held on the sanctuary's premises.

By now, the temple, which also bears the name Vihara Dharma
Cattra, has been enlarged and looks completely different. If the
roof still retains some features of Chinese architecture, the
rest of the construction -- especially the entrance and the
carvings decorating the facade and the walls of a pagoda -- are
in "modern Balinese style".

Some pelinggihs (Balinese shrines) have been added on the
right side of the courtyard, as well as an octagonal pagoda in
honor of the Goddess of Mercy and an effigy of Buddha placed on a
stone pedestal, as in Kuta.

The main sanctuary still shelters small effigies of Kongco and
of his two followers, who are called here Tubagus and Gusti. Two
impressive stone lions in a very syncretic style stand on either
side of the entrance.

Worth noting are two carved stone panels in the facade in
memory of the part played by Kongco as architect of the Taman
Ayun. One depicts a landscape inspired by the pura, and the
other, a resi (holy priest) meditating in a cave surrounded by
water.

In all the three temples of Bali, the devotees question Kongco
by means of chiamsi, or poems on cards corresponding to the
oracles of the deity, as well as on medical subjects. The
caretakers of the temple help with the interpretaion of the
poems.

For medical problems, prescriptions are given, which the
devotees take to Chinese apothecaries. No doubt Kongco is
regarded as a "True Man" and ancestor to all the people, who
protects everyone without distinction, evident from the many
panels of praise hanging in the temple of Buleleng.