Central java, java’s cultural cradle comprising the provinces of Yogyakarta and central java, is steeped into myriads of myths, magic and much mysticism. At its southern shore, it is exposed to the thunderous waves of the Indian ocean which is ruled by the guddess the southern sea, Nyi Loro kidul.
Gentle waves of the java sea roll onto the southern,mainly flat shore. Though rather shallow, a giant sea snake apparently once lived in these waters. Like a string of giant pearls, a chain of volcanoes lies smack in the midle of this part of java, neatly arranged in west- east direction, the hinghest being mt. slamet (3422m) and mt. sumbing (3373m). Legend has it that one day the hindu gods decided to move the sacred mt. mahameru form the himalaya s to java. it was literally s massive undertaking. though it remained a mystery how it was exactly carried out. As with most removals, some damage occured: Giants book of stone fell forming today’s chain of volcanoes. Needles to say, there were a few precarious moments endangering this undertaking. First Mt. semeru was put down in west java. This caused an imbalance and java was threatened to sink (this explanation may be an early description of tectonic plate movements). As a demon king had taken over Mt. semeru in west java and was unwilling to give up this mountain, the gods had no other choice but to engage this king in a fierce battle. After his defeat the gods continued their laborious journey to east java, where Mt. semeru was eventually put down. But probably in order to play safe, a nail was driven into central java so that the heavy load could be further stabilized.
Mt.Sindoro – Sumbing
Mt. Semeru
Mt. Mahameru
Against this background alone it is not surprising that volcanoes are sacred places, thought to be the abodes of gods, who can be benevolent or wrathful. When there was a major eruption of Mt. Merapi around 1000 AD,covering parts of java including Borobudur, a stupa-shaped buddiest monument representing Mt. mahameru, people encountered the destructive forces of volcanoes. Mt. Merapi is one of the most dangerous volcanoes of the world having a major eruption about every five years. In the past an eruption of this volcanoes was so they say, caused if the sacred keris ( dagger) failed to be deeply stuck into it said.
every year in the labuhan ceremony the sultan of Yogyakarta has piece of his hair and nails being taken high up to a plateform at about 2000 M by the gatekeeper ( juru kunci ) of Mt. Merapi in order to exercise the sultan power over a dragon, which together with other in habitans dwells deep inside this mountain. the current gatekeepeer Mbah Maridjan, my tell you the story that Mt. Merapi is a Kraton a javanese palace mirroring the Kraton of Yogyakarta.
Many centuries ago, senopati, the first sultan of Mataram in central java,meditated so intensively that Mt. Merapi erupted and the southern sea started to boil. Nyi Roro Kidul, the queen of the southern sea, become very curious about what happened. As soon as she met him, fell in love with him. She ovvered to be his mistress forever if he would eat the ” egg of the world”.
Fearing that by eating it the would be turned into a monster, he asked his gardener to do it. And true enough, the gardener was transformed into a monstrous spirit who, ashamed of his appaling appearance,went into hiding in Mt. Merapi. As gratitude for such loyal service food and clothes are brought to him in the annual labuhan ceremony.
Human relationship is always of interst. Mt. Sumbing (3373m) and Mt. Sundoro (3138m) are said to be a perfect husband and wife couple in central java. Standing next to Mt. Sundoro is her child Mt. tlerep, at about 2100m already fairly grown up but still clinging to her apron. Whilst she is in perfect (cone) shape and looking young (Sundoro means beautiful in sanskret), her husband, who has a very rugged head, look many years her senior. Both are pretty quiet now. their only arguments seem to be a huff and a puff once in a while.
in the crater of Mt. Sumbing is the grave of one of java’s holy men who brought Islam to Java. on Idul Fitri, the and of the fasting month, pilgrims trek up to his grave. Each person it on a mound of stones and pebbles representing his grave. And it is a perfect place for praying and meditating, as the inside of the crater is sheltered by a high rim. But the weather can be rather cold at about 3200m. Once I almost slipped when there was a patch of ice cream near the grave!.
The volcanoes of Central Java, though causing destruction occasionally, created also much of Java’s fertile soil, In general, the coastal places and areas surrounding the volcanoes produce all required food. but there are also other forces at work that many lead to the destructions of the land.
The legend of how the lake rawa pening, the largest natural lake in java, came into being is another axample. One day all men of a village went hunting because they planed to have a kenduri (a gathering with a ritual meal). for some strange reasons they could not find any animal. Exhausted, the hunters gathered under a tree for a rest. When they sliced sweet potatoes and accidentally the tree root, suddenly blood spilled out from this root. Then they realized that this root was a giant snake which they killed in order to make snake sate for the gathering. The hunting party happily left the forest with the main body of the snake. From the snake’s head that was left behind, a young boy emerged. Dressed in rags and suffering from a skin disease, he went to the village where the party was already in full swing. Nobody gave him a snake sate let alone something else to eat. Because of his persistence he was kicked out of the village. Fortunately a kind old lady living in a poor hut nearby gave him some rice with dried fish. Strengthened he returned to the village, a wooden stick in his hand. He invited first the village children,then the adults to pull the stick out of the ground. Nobody could achieve it. When he did it, water gushed out and the whole village drowned except the kind lady who survived, as advised by the boy, by sitting on a lesung ( a wooden log with a long hole in the middle for pounding rice). The result of this flood is today’s lake rawa pening.
Magical transformations occured in this part of java again and again. On the slope of Mt. Merapi near kinarejo, once lowlanders attacked hillside villagers.But strong mantras, words being the only weapons of these villagers, made almost all war elephants fall back into the ocean . Only one elephant escaped this lethal counterattack. Nevertheless the mantras were strong enough to immediately turn the last surviving elephant into a rock,which, upon closer look, resembles a mother with its baby between her legs. And even more intriguing is that about 20m above this rock there is a banyan tree at 1500m. Its up to you to find out how this low altitude tree survived the centuries. Mbah Maridjan,the gatekeeper of Mt. Merapi, could tell you another story
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