Worshiping albino, 'sacred' buffaloes at Surakarta palace

Worshiping albino, 'sacred' buffaloes at Surakarta palace

By Bambang M

SURAKARTA, Central Java (JP): One morning at Kasunanan Palace,
Surakarta, Kirmanto, 43, acting servile, approached a big albino
buffalo, squatting and paying homage to the animal. Seven other
people followed his actions.

Don't think Kirmanto was losing his mind. He was doing what
believers of the feudal court culture are supposed to do when
bumping into the palace's buffaloes, which they consider sacred.

The Surakarta palace has eight such buffaloes.

Except for their hide color, the sacred eight albino buffaloes
are physically very much the same as buffalo found elsewhere. The
male buffaloes are named Kyai Slamet and females Nyai Slamet.
Kyai and Nyai are honorific titles for a Javanese man and woman.
But as a whole entity, the herd is referred to as Kyai Slamet.

"Physically they are no different from ordinary buffaloes. But
if you watch them, they will also watch you, that is one thing
that makes them different from ordinary buffaloes," said
Kirmanto, an abdi dalem (palace servant) and srati (herder) of
the court buffaloes.

The Kyai Slamet are described as "well-cultured" animals. For
example they eats politely, not greedily like common buffaloes.

"In short, their characteristics resemble a man's," said
Kirmanto, who likes to identify himself as Kyai Slamet's servant.

Kirmanto, who started his profession in 1988, knows his
"master" very well.

One of his jobs is to prepare the Kyai Slamet for traditional
rituals at the palace like kirab pusaka (parade of palace
heirlooms) around the palace every Javanese New Year.

The buffaloes are named after the palace's sacred spear, which
is several hundred years old. Legend has it that wherever the
spear went, a pair of buffaloes would follow.

"These eight albino buffaloes are their offspring and also
called Kyai Slamet," Kirmanto explained.

Many Surakartans believe the buffaloes can give them blessings
and must be respected.

A cigarette seller, Pak Tuwo, told The Jakarta Post, "If you
want to take pictures of the Kyai Slamet, you have to pay them
homage first." The buffaloes usually graze in the palace's
southern square.

Many people from outside Surakarta also believe that the white
buffaloes can give blessings. When the Post talked to Kirmanto
not far from the Kyai Slamet, a woman got out from her car
suddenly and came close to Kyai Slamet, caressing its head and
asking for luck.

Many people have come to Kirmanto asking him for Kyai Slamet's
fallen fur or droppings. They keep them as amulets. When the Kyai
Slamet get loose and enter the market, vendors will let them
touch their merchandise. The vendors believe that it will give
them good luck.

Because the Kyai Slamet are "different" from ordinary buffalo,
Kirmanto treats them accordingly. Kirmanto and helpers Mulyanto,
Slamet Wiro and Mul Kebo do not escort their "master" grazing.
The albino buffaloes are let loose and they can roam around
wherever they like. They are often spotted wallowing in mud pools
in villages near the palace.

Sometimes, they travel as far as Wonogiri, 60 km southeast, or
cross the provincial border to Sragen, 60 km to the east.

The buffaloes have a stable in the southern square but they
are not always at home when the Surakarta royal family needs them
for a ceremony. At odd times like these, Kirmanto is obviously
responsible for tracking them down.

"I always have spiritual contact with them. After meditating
for a while, I usually have a mental picture of where they are,"
said Kirmanto.

Kirmanto may not be kidding. When the Post wanted to take
pictures of Kyai Slamet, they were not in the southern square.
From his home in Surakarta, he suggested that the Post come back
the following day because he was yet to spiritually call the
animals back. He was right. The following day, the Post found
them grazing at the southern square as Kirmanto promised.

Kirmanto said he obtained the spiritual skill to communicate
with the buffaloes through a series of rituals. First, he
secluded himself for a week without eating or drinking. Then he
underwent another ritual in which he ate only white rice and
drank water and did not sleep at night for another week.

He did the spiritual rituals mostly in his early days as the
buffaloes herder.

"Now, I don't do as many spiritual rituals as I did in the
past because I have to work hard for my family," he said.

As a child, Kirmanto never thought that he would become a
srati for Kasunanan Palace buffaloes. He inherited the job from
his father-in-law, Mbah Durmo or Kromo Maesa, a srati for the
Kyai Slamet.

"After he died in 1988, I saw Sultan Sinuwun Paku Buwono XII,
asking him if I was allowed to replace Mbah Durmo. The sultan
agreed," said Kirmanto, who has received the royal title Maeso
Gumati (literally a man who looks after buffaloes).

As a srati, Kirmanto earns Rp 6,000 a month. Besides being a
herder, he also works as a palace servant, for which he gets
another Rp 8,000 a month. Of course, the income is far from
enough to support his wife and seven children. To make ends meet,
he moonlights in a batik factory.

The Kirmanto family lives in a four-meter-by-eight-meter
house. There is also a stable for the Kyai Slamet behind the
house. Kirmanto said the stable was built several centuries ago
when Surakarta palace moved from Kartasura to Surakarta.

Although being a srati does not make him wealthy, Kirmanto is
proud of his profession, which has given him experiences that no
other people can get.

He told of dreams he has often had: flying with the Kyai
Slamet and visiting the ocean and mountains. "Maybe this is how
the Kyai Slamet make me happy," Kirmanto said.

His most interesting experience happened a few years ago when
a buffalo vendor from Sumatra called on him, telling him that he
was almost bankrupt because his buffaloes fell sick and died one
by one.

Kirmanto told his guest to go and ask Kyai Slamet for a
blessing. He gave the vendor a dropping of Kyai Slamet, a strand
of its hair and a whip. The dropping was to be put in the
trader's stable, the hair to be taken to the market and the whip
used anytime he herded buffaloes.

Four years later, the vendor came to Kirmanto again. This time
the Sumatran was a rich man.

"I did not recognize him because the way he presented himself
was so different from what it was before," Kirmanto recalled. The
grateful man gave him a sheep and invited him to visit Sumatra on
the trader's account. But Kirmanto declined the invitation.

Kirmanto is a simple man. He said he will be happy to spend
his whole life working as a srati for the Kyai Slamet.

One thing is sure -- he is following in his father-in-law's
footsteps but Kirmanto is not sure which of his children will
step into his shoes when he dies.