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.