Villagers offer thanks with sacred 'mondosio' ritual

Villagers offer thanks with sacred 'mondosio' ritual

Tawangmangu, a small resort town on the northwestern slope of
Mount Lawu in southeastern Central Java, is a popular holiday
destination known for its invigorating mountain air as well as
its traditional rituals.

One of these rituals is the mondosio, derived from the word
mandhasiya, which means month in the Javanese calendar.

The mondosia has been held every year in Pancot village,
Tawangmangu subdistrict, for generations. Today, this sacred
ceremony has become identified with Tawangmangu, and always
attracts a large number of tourists to the area.

According to Marto Wagiyo, 73, one of the village elders in
Pancot, mondosio is a traditional ceremony based on the wuku, the
30 seven-day periods which make up the 210-day Javanese calendar
cycle.

The ceremony is held on Kliwon (the fifth day of the Javanese
five-day week), during wuku mondosio, one of the 30 wuku.

According to legend, mondosio is held to commemorate the
people's victory over the tyrannical King Baka. This king ruled
Pancot and the surrounding areas and was fond of eating human
flesh, and many people were sacrificed to satisfy his appetite.
He ordered every family in the areas under his authority to take
turns sacrificing one member of their family.

One day it was the turn of Mbok Randha Dadapan, a widow living
in Dadapan village, to make a sacrifice by offering her only
child, a son. Before the sacrifice, she met Putut Tetuko, a young
man from a traditional self-defense group.

He told the widow he would help her defeat the cruel king. So
when the time came for the sacrifice, the widow submitted Putut
Tetuko to King Baka. However, the king was unable to eat the
flesh of the young man, who had supernatural powers.

The angry king and the youth fought, and Putut Tetuko killed
the king by ramming his head against a round stone near Bale
Patokan, a small house in Tawangmangu. The king's lifeless body
was transformed into different kinds of vegetation. The round
stone and Bale Patokan are now regarded as sacred places that
symbolize the destruction of evil.

According to Supadi, 51, a community leader in Pancot, the
mondosio ritual emphasizes prayers of thanks to God for his
blessings. This is because Pancot, since the death of the king,
has become an agricultural center producing a number of crops,
including rice.

Locals believe that unless they hold this sacred ceremony
every year, they will experience a disaster such as a failed
harvest. Whether or not this is true, Supadi said the current
economic crisis had not affected Pancot.

The bounty of the paddy fields is always able to meet the
needs of the 400 families in Pancot, Supadi said. The area is
also well known as a producer of onions, garlic, bananas, carrots
and potatoes.

The ritual begins with a procession of local people on Pon
(the third day of the Javanese five-day week), or two days before
the mondosio ceremony.

Offerings consisting of gandhik (food from rice flour), an
alcoholic beverage made from fermented sticky rice, tumpeng (a
ceremonial dish of rice served in a cone shape), uncooked and
cooked mutton, goats' bones, uncooked goats' intestines and feet,
uncooked chicken, roasted chicken, betel leaves and banana are
delivered by the people to the local community leader. The
uncooked mutton symbolizes King Baka's favorite food.

Marking the start of mondosio ritual, the village elder
slaughters a black goat and several chickens. All ritual
offerings are presented at the Bale Patokan, and a Javanese
gamelan orchestra performs to invite visitors.

The peak of the modosio ritual is the saying of prayers,
followed by the release of a number of cocks and hens from the
roof of Pancot market. Locals compete with each other to catch
the birds, accompanied by the rhythms of the gamelan
orchestra.

Locals believe that if they catch a cock or hen during the
mondosio ceremony, they will receive a blessing and their future
welfare and prosperity will improve.