The dead sleep in luxury at Gunung Gadung
The dead sleep in luxury at Gunung Gadung
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Bogor
The 300-hectare Gunung Gadung cemetery is probably the largest
and most elegant land of the dead in the country.
Located beside the luxurious Rancamaya housing complex in
Ciawi, Bogor -- some 65 kilometers southeast of Jakarta -- the
cemetery looks more like a park thanks to its well-maintained
lawns and glittering marble tombs.
Indeed, the cemetery is filled with large and elegant tombs or
mausoleums, which reportedly took several years and hundreds of
millions of rupiah to construct.
Since the cemetery is mostly used by Chinese-Indonesians, some
of the tombs, which belong to the country's wealthiest people,
are guarded by private security guards who stay on guard 24 hours
a day to make sure that no valuables are stolen.
Whatever their religion, many Chinese still practice the
tradition of burying gold, money and jewelry along with the dead.
"The graves here are so big because they put valuables inside
aside from the body. These graves would be very expensive for the
average Indonesian," said Dayat, a worker with the Pulasara
Foundation which manages the cemetery.
Dayat said many of the dead buried in the cemetery were the
family members of rich businessmen, including tycoon Sudono
Salim.
According to Dayat, Salim spent more than Rp 1 billion to
build a mausoleum for his family members buried there, including
the purchase of marble tiles from China.
The cemetery management charges up to Rp 15 million for anyone
who wishes to bury the dead in a tomb measuring two meters by
seven meters. The sum only covers the price of the land and the
construction cost of the tomb.
The cost also depends on the location of the grave; the higher
the location of grave the more expensive it is.
A plot of land located lower down on the hill is priced at Rp
500,000 per square meter, while plots higher up on the hill may
cost more than Rp 2 million per square meter.
The cost excludes a monthly maintenance fee, which can reach
between Rp 100,000 and Rp 500,000.
The cemetery, which has been operating since 1819, is managed
by several foundations. Aside from Pulasara, the other
foundations are Zakaria Foundation, Setia Bakti Baru Foundation,
Sri Kasih Foundation and Sri Asih Pratama Foundation.
All of the foundations have apparently made a good profit from
the business as they reportedly bought the cemetery land for just
Rp 50,000 per square meter back in the 1980s.
Another exclusive cemetery is Giri Tama cemetery for Muslims
and Christians, which is located in Parung, Bogor -- some 30
kilometers south of Jakarta.
In this cemetery lies the remains of several of the country's
noted figures, including the nation's first police chief Hoegeng,
comedian Kasino, former religious minister Munawir Sadzali and
former minister of home affairs Soepardjo Rustam.
Former Jakarta governor Ali Sadikin has also booked a plot
there for his family.
The three-hectare cemetery is managed by the Werda Tama
Foundation, which was set up by a group of pensioners from the
military and public servants back in 1981.
"People who are buried here have to book at least three months
in advance. They can't come here just like that as this is an
exclusive cemetery," said Yusuf, an official with the foundation.
According to Yusuf, a grave of 2.5 meters by 3 meters for two
people is priced at about Rp 6.5 million with a monthly
maintenance fee of Rp 25,000. The price includes the cost of
digging the grave, providing an ambulance for bringing the
corpse, renting a tent and chairs, getting a burial license, as
well as for bathing the corpse.
For beautifying the grave, the family needs to fork out
between Rp 2 million and Rp 10 million.
The Giri Tama cemetery employs some 30 people for maintaining
some 1,000 graves, which are mostly decorated with marble
headstones, flowers and grass.
Yusuf noted that the foundation was not seeking any profit
from managing the cemetery as the foundation planned to use all
its profits to purchase new land to expand the cemetery.