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.