The Heavenly Land

The Heavenly Land

Korrie Layun Rampan

Circles of palm leaves fluttered wildly in the wind. The blotches emerging on deraya1 statuettes grew darker with the scorching hot day.

Originally red, the palm leaves were fading and drying before turning brownish. Bamboo baskets for offerings decorated with blue leaves were scattered all over. Complete silence pervaded from the riverbank to the Dayak tribal house, lou, across.

Crows of roosters could be heard only once in a while. The rhythm of nature seemed to be soaking up the mystery of gods. It's the rhythm of silence!

"So this is how things look after the ceremony here, kak2 Amran," said the girl walking beside the young man. "Like a graveyard?"

"It's not because of belian, Lebaran, kewangkey3, or Christmas. You see the paraphernalia of this just finished ritual. Look at the icons and ancak-ancak offering baskets, also the palm and blue leaves. All of them represent the close bonds between the living and the world of spirits."

"You've never told me, kak Amran."

"Because you've never asked, Debra."

"Now I'm asking you. Tell me about the ritual!"

"Last week in Jakarta, I talked about Kaharingan4. You remember it, don't you? It's just before you decided to fly with me to my village home."

"Yes, Kaharingan. A myth, a rite, a cult..."

Both walked up in the quiet surroundings. A lou was seen in its full extent at a distance. Their steps were indistinct as they strolled along a white sand path.

"Once I referred to the lou. Don't be surprised when you see for yourself. To locals, it has a vital function. It's a ritual center."

"You mean the center of life?"

"That's where everything begins, because the life and survival of people here start and end with rituals. Life is worship!"

"I don't get it, kak."

"Children show filial piety to their parents, who in turn devote themselves to theirs, and so forth. It's the reason for a married couple having children and further descendants."

"It's a normal fact, a natural reality."

"It's not merely a matter of reproduction as natural endowment. In the cycle of generations of parents and children, unique and continuous ceremonies take place."

"Not everyone of them can be present then."

"Their existence just becomes meaningful if they can fill it with the various ceremonies. As you've seen near the stairway facing the riverbank, there are remaining trappings for the ritual devoted to guardian spirits of water."

"So?"

"Yes, that's the way it has been. They exist and live, performing the rites!"

"In Jakarta, I remember you mentioning the heavenly land. What is it?"

"So you're interested in it? I thought you're here only for recreation rather than folklore."

"Stop being a talker, kak. Just tell me!"

"Don't get mad, my dear. The heavenly land? Well, legend has it that this land has seven tiers of heavenly abode."

"So the land is kind of multistoried?"

"Yes. The top level is the supreme house of immortality where gods and spirits of our forefathers dwell in."

"Is it so hard for the spirits to reach their final abode? Do they have to scale the height through flights of stairs?"

"Not exactly. There's a great distance between one eternal palace to the next. Those entering one will undergo various ordeals before their passage to the other higher heaven."

"All the ranks below the seventh thus serve as a training ground where spirits are put to the test?"

"It's because the palaces are not their final destination, not the house of immortality, but only constitute a transient path. The first heaven is occupied by gods of sounds, like those of thunder, of birds conveying forebodings."

"I've hardly ever heard such forewarnings, kak. Go on."

"The second heaven houses gods of winds and the moon."

"Reigning over winds and the moon. Then?"

"Gods of rivers and straits live in the third level. One of them is called Senieng Danum Pasang."

"It's a peculiar name, kak."

"The god who's very helpful to men, Rawing Tempon Telon, can be found in this same palace."

"It's even stranger, kak Amran."

"A lot more gods dominate the fourth and fifth ranks. I can't mention them all."

"In the sixth heaven?"

"There live gods of fruits, hills and mountains. The one creating jugs has a very long name."

"What's it?"

"Listen, Debra, he's Lalang Rangkang Halamaung Puntung Jambangan Nyahu. Quite long, isn't it?"

"And the seventh?"

"It's the ultimate abode of Letala Juus Tuhaq, the godhead of souls in the hereafter. Besides, the other dwellers are subordinate spirits like goddess of paddy Luing Ayang, and Tamenrikung Mulung and Diang Serunai. This paradise is called Lou Liau. Just listen how it goes in its original tongue: Lewu Tatau Habaras Bulau Habasung Hitan Hakarangan Lamiang."

"It's sounds exotic. Surely you can explain the gist of this long name."

"It means something like most religions wish to suggest. Some claim that paradise abounds with milk and honey. So it implies that the place is 'an affluent land with gold sand, diamond studded hills and gemstone gravel'."

"So religions have a common goal? Paradise... Ah, you once said there's another land apart from that of seven-tier horizons."

"An upper land should naturally have a lower land."

"What the hell is it?"

"It's the underground land in the earth's core. The godhead is Jewata, assisted by gods of fish, rock, soil and minerals. There's a lot of them, Debra."

"Their function?"

"Helping or ruining men!"

"It's terrible, kak Amran."

"That's how they work. It's just like making a pact with Satan. Jewata can heal an ailing man but sacrifices must promptly be offered: a chicken, pig and buffalo...!"

"A cruel demand, isn't it?"

"But it's the deal. Usually the offerings are presented in a small boat-like wooden raft, which is cast adrift in a river before being drowned."

They kept walking and were getting near the lou. "It's exciting, kak Amran. The belief is so antique and complicated."

"And we may even be victims. Only after three days' abstinence are we allowed to go up to the lou. Newcomers are banned from doing so before finishing their pemali, the abstinence following a belian rite."

"That's uncommon."

"The consequence is fatal if the rule is violated. Those already healed may relapse or die and we'll be fined, though I'm a local villager myself. After leaving this village for over ten years, I'm now regarded as a stranger."

"Only two lands in the local faith?"

"Still there's another called the land of souls!"

"You've told me about the heaven of immortality, haven't you?"

"Right. But this land has its own ranks. Lumut5 is among the stages of transit. The last terminal is Kedaton Tunjung Punu, often called Lewu Tatau Dia Rumpang Tulang Rundung Raja Dia Kamalasu Uhate."

"What a long and odd name, kak Amran, meaning?"

"About the same as I've explained, it's 'a wealthy land free from misfortune, misery and exhaustion'."

"From Lumut spirits will proceed to..."

"The eternal dimension, after the souls have been guided by a wara."

"Wara? What's it?"

"A witch of death."

"Does he act like a priest, a Muslim religious instructor or a Buddhist monk?"

"Sort of. But he's got a tougher job."

"How tough?"

"A Wara takes seven, sometimes fourteen, days and nights to execute his task. All spirits of the dead are guided to the accompaniment of a lament: the elegy of tinga wara6."

"It's funny but scary!"

"That's the local custom and tradition, Debra."

"Do they perpetuate it today?"

"Some is retained. Severe practices have been extinct, such as mengayau."

"Mengayau? So it has to do with the death ritual? It's weird, kak Amran!"

"Yes, it does. In the hereafter, spirits imitate life in the world. If a rich man dies, he's got to be richer hereafter, so that there must be a grand and lavish ceremony. His soul should have an attendant as a sacrifice. So, mengayau means finding the attendant as a servant for the soul returning to the eternal land."

"It's sadistic, kak."

Both arrived at the yard of the lou. Right in front of the wooden steps somebody called out with joy, "Kak Amran is coming! Kak Amran is coming!" and people were emerging from the inside. Their clamor suddenly stopped as they saw a foreign girl. Yet she beamed brightly to show hospitality and sincere acceptance.

When they reached the steps and walked past the door to enter the house, faces were appearing from lou rooms and a noisy atmosphere prevailed.

Amran held the arm of the girl walking beside him.

"They're curiously watching us, Debra," he whispered.

"Curious...?" *** Translated by Aris Prawira

Notes: 1 Deraya : special wood for human statuettes 2 Kak : term of address for an older man or brother 3 Belian : healing rite Lebaran : Idul Fitri, end of Muslim fasting month Kewangkey : final burial of human skeletons 4 Kaharingan : Dayak ancestral faith based on local tradition 5 Lumut : heaven 6 Tinga wara : local litany sung alternately to guide spirits