Discover what you've been missing in Indonesia

Batu Bolong Temple

noreply@blogger.com (Anggorowati) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 01:40:00 +0000

The temple of Batu Bolong is farther up the seacoast, just before Senggigi Beach. The temple sits on rocks jutting out to ocean. In clear weather, there’re good panoramas of Bali’s Mt. Agung at sunset. Alas for tourers, virgins are no longer thrown to the sharks from here. A large hole in the rock next to the temple gave it its name: batu means rock and bolong is hole.

The Temple of Pura Segara

noreply@blogger.com (Anggorowati) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 02:27:00 +0000

The temple of Pura Segara is to the north of Ampenan, right on the beach. This is a typical Balinese temple, but the setting is most of the attractive force: the temple is surrounded by unnumberable outriggered fishing boats, some of them with their sails unrolled, like birdies drying their wings. There’re several food stalls here for snacks and drinks.

Visit Lombok Sumbawa Year 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Anggorowati) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 15:42:00 +0000

Famous Lesser Sunda Islands's Lombok tourist spots include Senggigi Beach, the famous 3 Gili islands, the West Lesser Sunda Islands capital Mataram, Mt. Rindjani, Lake Segara Anak and southern Lombok’s Kuta Beach. Tourist spots in the more sequestered Sumbawa Island include Mt. Tambora, Moyo Island, Jelenga Beach and Maluk Beach.

West Lesser Sunda Islands's Lombok and Sumbawa islands — far-famed particularly for their maritime touristry — look set to attract more visitants in the coming twelvemonths, as they gear up for the campaign of Visit Lombok-Sumbawa 2012.
Indonesian Culture and Tourism Ministry’s director general for marketing said that West Lesser Sunda Islands province, located just east of Bali, wishful a main focus of the ministry’s tourism programs in year 2012. The campaign of Visit Lombok-Sumbawa will be launched by President of Republik Indonesia in Lombok soon to mark the starting time of West Lesser Sunda Islands's preparednesses to reach its target of doubling visitant numbers to 1000000 by 2012. Often dubbed purer and more serene — and, arguably, more gorgeous — versions of the neighbouring Bali, Lombok and Sumbawa are home to myriad snowy sandy beaches and aquamarine seawater, as well as rich subaqueous life.
Lombok particularly is a far-famed as centre for pearl production and trade, and home to Mount Rindjani, the second-highest peak in Indonesia and considered one of the most well trekking spots in Asia. The beauty and natural appealingnesses of the two islands, however, due to a lack of promotion, have been overshadowed by the worldwide popularity of The Island of The Gods.
West Lesser Sunda Islands Governor said the programme wasn't to develop Lombok and Sumbawa as challengers to Bali, but rather as complementary destinations, to provide a more wide-ranging set of options to holidaymakers arriving on Bali. The province was eyeballing Mideast holidaymakers, who presently favoured Malaya as a vacation destination.
To lure these holidaymakers, the West Lesser Sunda Islands governance has signed a deal with Dubai-based Emaar Properties, which will invest a total of US$26.6 billion in developing a prodigious touristry project in southerly Lombok. Head of the West Lesser Sunda Islands Tourism Agency said the province had been enjoying a steady-going growth in domestic and foreign visitant numbers in the past few years. In 2008, visitant numbers reached 500,000, almost half of them from overseas. With afresh, bigger aerodrome scheduled to open in 2010, the number of visitants is expected to grow more significantly.

The Temple of Gunung Pengsong

noreply@blogger.com (Anggorowati) — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 14:17:00 +0000

The temple of Gunung Pengsong, about six kilometres to the south of Mataram, offers some of the most superb panoramas in Lombok on clear daylights: Mt. Rindjani in the early cockcrow, Bali’s Mt. Agung during the late afternoon, and an extensive overview of paddies daylong.

The small shrine is located on top of a steep hill, which can be reached by walking up lots of stairs, escorted al the way by chattering monkeys looking for a handout. One of the Lord's tables holds a large, oviform stone firmly cemented in the seat of honor. An important harvest ceremonial occasion is held here around March or April. It’s said that during this rite a water ox is led to the top to serve as the main sacrifice. Far and away the most important ceremonial occasion here, called Anggara Kliwon Prang Bakat, is held once every other cycle of the Pawukon, the 210-day Balinese ceremonial occasion calendar.

Nusa Tenggara

noreply@blogger.com (Anggorowati) — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 01:35:00 +0000

Nusa Tenggara (Lesser Sundas islands). A commonalty of related traditions and general beliefs underlies the diverseness of rite practice in the various Lesser Sundas’ domains. All of the populations are concerned with the rite knowledge of their specific origins which establishes personal and society identity, and forms the very foundation of ethnical life. The ceremonial communication of this knowledge, which lets in the recitation of family trees and the tracing of ancestral migrations, is a key feature of rites.

Much of this communication features a special rite spoken language that requires the pairing of words and idioms. Even simple ceremonials evoke an over-the-top poetic view of life, which sustains, enhances, and transforms even ordinary activities and objects. In Kodi, at the western end of Sumba, the drum wont to accompany rite oration in ceremonies is addressed as follows:

You're the birdie we set singing
You're the philander we set flying
So let us walk down the same path together
So let us ride astride the same horse together

These metaphoric comparabilities pervade all aspects of life. On Roti, for instance, young unmarried girls are conventionally compared to “blackbirds and green parrots who sing with soft voices and warble with gentle songs.” Young boys are said to go “with bow and blowgun to hunt and stalk these blackbirds and green parrots.”
End-to-end the region, there's a belief in the interrelatedness of all forms of life. Most rites are intended to be life-giving-to engender a harmoniousness in human actions that's in unison with the pattern of life as a whole.
The metaphors that articulate these beliefs are complex but one dominant metaphor in the association of human life with the structure and life of plants. On Roti, for instance, the traditional wedding was performed by splitting a coco palm and giving one half to each marriage partner. Then the structure of the coco palm serves as a metaphor for a successful union:

This coco palm has 5 layers
The husk embraces the shell
The shell embraces the flesh
The flesh embraces the milk
The milk embraces the germ.
So let it be
For this young man and woman
Let one embrace the other
And one cling to the other
So that the shoot of the coco palm may grow
And the germ of the betel nut may sprout
So that she may give birth to 9 times 9 kids
And she may beget 8 times 8 kids.

The Promised Land For A Naturalist

noreply@blogger.com (Anggorowati) — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 19:58:00 +0000

During his famous sojourn in the archipelago in the mid-19th century British naturalist Sir Alfred Russel Wallace spent several months exploring the Arus. In Dobo from March to June 1857, he added over 9000 specimens to his collection.

Wallace’s stay coincided with an attack by four large pirate canoes manned by Sulu pirates from the southern Philippines, their first strike after an 11-year lull. When pursued by a Dutch warship, the clever pirates simply headed straight into the wind and rowed for their lives. Steam-powered warships slowed down, but did not eliminate, the pirates, who still operate today—not, however, in the Arus.

As soon as Wallace set up camp at Dobo, he began collecting animal life. On his very first day of searching, he “trembled with excitement,” he recalls in The Malay Archipelago, as his net swooped down on the great bird-winged butterfly, Ornithoptera Poseidon. Lost in admiration, he gazed at “the velvet black and brilliant green of its wings, seven inches across, its golden body and crimson breast.” After capturing 30 species of butterflies in one day, mostly rare or new to science, Wallace decided that the Arus were for him “the promised land.”

The only trouble in paradise was its immense variety of spiders, particularly one species that strings it strong and glutinous nets across footpaths. While freeing himself with “much trouble,” the naturalist remarks that the nets’ inhabitants, “great yellow-spotted monsters with bodies two inches long, and legs in proportion, are not pleasant things to run one’s nose against while pursuing some gorgeous butterfly, or gazing aloft in search of some strange-voiced bird.”

But it would have taken an army of spiders to deter out determined naturalist from pursuing his birds, particularly the birds of paradise, and he was probably the first European to see them in their native forests. Wallace became attuned to the sounds of the forest birds: “lories and parakeets cry shrilly; cockatoos scream; king-hunters croak and bark; and the various smaller birds chirp and whistle their morning song.” But his siren’s song was the loud “wawk-wawk-wawk-wok-wok-wok” of the birds of paradise.

The strange ornamental breast fans and spiral tail wires of the birds of paradise are unknown on any other of the 8000-odd species of birds on the earth. The silky yellow nuptial plumes of the greater bird of paradise does not begin appearing until June, and reaches what Wallace called “full perfection” only in September and October. In as the plumage starts appearing, the birds begin their characteristic dancing parties in food trees—mahogany and wild nutmeg—that are clear enough to show the nervous males off to their potential mates.

(PeriPlus)

Climbing Gamalama

noreply@blogger.com (Anggorowati) — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 19:56:00 +0000

A climb up Ternate’s Gamalama volcano can reward you with incredible panoramas and a smolderling, sulfurous crater. With these rewards come some risks, however. The climb can be hazardous—you must be very careful, particularly around the crater—but more likely, just disappointing: sometimes the top is socked in by a thick cloud bank.

The easiest path to climb Gamalama, out of a possible dozen or so routes, starts at the end of Marikuburu village. It’s not too bad at the beginning but it gets steeper. By the time you have reached the last hut, you’re about one-fifth of the way, and will know if you can make it or not. Remember that the top is 1721 meters, but at the end of the paved road at Marikuburu you are already 200-300 meters above sea-level. Along this first stretch, you walk through groves of cloves and nutmeg trees, along with a few cinnamon trees. Unfortunately, you won’t see much of this spice paradise by flashlight.

From the last hut onwards, the path narrows a bit, and an occasional spider stretches its web across the trail. These are not very pleasant to walk into, particularly since their large accupants (span of legs the size of a man’s hand; bodies 10 centimeters long) tend to run down your back. They’re not dangerous though.

This trail is the easiest, because it is cleared every now and then for the sultans to carry offerings to Gamalama. If you are lucky enough to climb shortly after one of the sultans pilgrimages, the vegetation will have been well-cleared on both sides and steps of sorts cut into the path, greatly facilitating the ascent. Unfortunately, the current sultan visits Gamalama only once every few years.

It is said that whenever the sultan ascends, lots of birds fly around him. You, on the other hand, will be lucky to see a single one—but will certainly hear parrots and cockatoos in the forest. The last of the birds of paradise were killed in the 19th century to sell their skins and feathers to foreigners.

(PeriPlus)

Sights of Nutmeg Isles

noreply@blogger.com (Anggorowati) — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 19:55:00 +0000

The Banda islands are indecently lush with tropical vegetation. Some places are flat and coconut-fringed, while others are steeply hilled and covered by a variety of trees. Naturalist Sir Alfred Russel Wallas first wrote of Banda’s large fruit pigeon, Carphopaga concinna, with its continuous loud booming note. These birds gobble up the apricot-like nutmeg fruits, digesting the meat and the mace but passing the nut. The pigeons are most common on Lontar Island, in the forests and beautiful nutmeg groves.

Often you can see mace and nutmegs drying in the sun. Ask someone to demonstrate how the nutmegs are harvested. A long pole is used, tipped by two prongs and a small basket. The stalk of the fruit, out of easy reach, is nipped by the two claw-like prongs so the nutmegs fruit drops into basket.

If you are in Banda in April or October, kora-kora canoes compete in races on the quiet stretch of water between Neira and Gunung Api. The muscled boatsmen, many of whom paddle all day long as fishermen, send the big boats flying over the water at almost unbelievable speeds.

Your hotel can arrange for you to see the spectacular local dance, called the cakalele, formerly performed to whip up enthusiasm for war. The dance includes some very graceful flowing movements along with lots of shouting and stomping. If you want to see a cakalele, we suggest that you follow all the preparations, including the prayers over the sacred cloths, helmets and other paraphernalia used in the dances. On a more quite note, night often bring out the musical soul of the Bandanese, with songs accompanied by guitar and ukulele.

Another of Banda’s attractions, neglected by most visitors out of ignorance, are her mosques. Visit the gleaming Hatta-Sjahrir Mosque, but be sure to follow Muslim etiquette and remove your footwear before entering. You can also observe the faithful at prayer as long as you are decently dressed and show respect.

Fully restored Fort Belgica (1611) dominates Neira, with Fort Nassau (1609) gracefully crumbling below. On Lontar, Fort Hollandia and Fort Concordia both offer panoramic views. On Ai Island, Fort Revenge (Rivingil in Dutch) still has several cannon and a few locals have taken over one corner for homes. The Rumah Budaya Museum on Neira is full of antiques and has some historical paintings. Mohammed Hatta’s and Suta Sjahrir’s former home-in-exile has been also converted to a museum.

Just riding a boat around the Bandas to take in the scenery is a wonderful experience. On Neira, you can rent a small dogout in which to try your paddling (and balancing) skills. Although the bandanese make it look effortless, it is harder than it looks. You see even tiny tots confidently guiding their mini-canoes around. If you try it, either obtain a canoe with an outrigger or wear a bathing suit. And remember that white skin sunburns instantly, especially over open water.

There is plenty of serious fishing in the Bandas. Boats and decent tackle and other equipment can be rented from the hotels. From Ma to September, yellowfin tuna, sailfish, swordfish, Spanish mackerel and other game fish strike regularly. The season for skipjack, bonito and king mackerel runs from March to June, and again from September to mid-January. Barracuda, jacks and medium-sized bottom fish bite year-around in areas close to shore.

Your hotel will cook up the day’s triumphant catch, and locals will appreciate whatever you can’t eat yourself. Waterskiing is available in the protected waters of the lagoon or Banda Bay. From mid-June to September, and again form January to March, the waters are right for windsurfing.

Banda is one of the world’s very best diving spots. Things haven’t changed much since, in mid-19th century, Wallace remarked that “living coral and even the minutest objects are plainly seen on the volcanic sand at a depth of six or seven fathoms.” Snorkeling is excellent just off Neira—at Malole Beach, Tanah Rata or just in front of the former V.O.C palace. Other nearby snorkeling and shallow scuba-diving spots include: Pasir Besar and Kolam Penju off Fire Mountain, and near-beach plunges at Wali and Selamon Belakang off Lontar Island. Experienced divers will bring their own regulators, but all the necessary equipment can be rented on Banda.

Great deep dives await those with experience off Sjahrir Island, but the very best are near Hatta, Ai or Run Islands, with dramatic drop-offs and lots of big fish. The hotels provide boats to reach these places as well as a plentiful supply of tanks. In April and May, and again in October and November, you can arrange for the 100-kilometer trip to Manuk Island, famous for its birds, good diving and pristine beaches.

(PeriPlus)

The Most Beautiful of The Moluccan Isles

noreply@blogger.com (Anggorowati) — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 19:50:00 +0000

Perhaps the most beautiful of the Moluccan isles are the tiny Bandas, mere specks in the vast Banda sea. These lush, breezy islands offer little clue today that they once radically changed the course of world history.

Vasco da Gama rounded the Horn of Africa, Christopher Columbus landed in the New World, and Ferdinand Magellan’s crew became the first circle the globe—all in an attempt to obtain the spice riches of the East Indies, including Banda’s nutmeg. The age of exploration realigned Europe as, in turn, the Portuguese, the Spanish, and the Dutch and English became wealthy from the spice trade.

Control of the Bandas was contested up until 1667, when the British traded tiny Run Island for Manhattan, giving the Dutch full control of archipelago. The result for the Bandanese was already tragic—to monopolize the nutmeg trade, the Dutch in 1621 murdered most of Banda’s male population, and divided the islands up into parcels awarded to contract plantation owners. The Dutch perkeniers, often no more than criminals and drifters, tended the trees with slaves. The old Dutch Fort Bergica, cannons in place, still dominates the central island of Banda Neira—a silent testament to this sad chapter in Moluccan history.

Situated some 140 kilometers southeast of Amboyna, the Bandas cover barely 50 square kilometers of dry land, of which half is taken up by crescent-shaped Lontar Island (also called Great Banda). Lontar’s coastline traces the crown of a huge sunken caldera, which also forms tiny Sjahrir, formerly Banana Island.

Rising out of the sea in the center of the crater are Banda Neira and the perfect cone of Fire Mountain the still smoking snout of a once-huge volcano. A few kilometers east of Lontar is Hatta Island. West of the Lontar group are three other small islands: Ai, Run, and tiny Neijalakka Island.

Bandaneira, the only town of appreciable size on the islands, boasts several comfortable hotels, guides and facilities for boating, diving, fishing, waterskiing or visiting the outer islands. The town also has several interesting mosques.

Banda is one of the world’s finest spots for scuba and skin diving. The reefs surrounding the islands are healthy and lush with fish and colorful invertebrates. Rent a tiny dugout in Bandaneira and paddle out into the protected lagoon to any of a number of fine snorkeling spots for an afternoon spent gliding over water with a visibility to 12 meters.

For the serious diver, the reefs surrounding the outer islands often border on spectacular drop-offs, and this transition between shallow reef and deep water is where the big marine species prowl. Exploring the vertical reef faces, you will meet with inquisitive sharks and giant groupers.

Above water, the Bandas are just as beautiful. On Lontar Island, you can visit fragrant nutmeg groves where these delicate trees are protected by a canopy of towering kanari nut trees. The nutmeg are carefully picked with a long ple tipped with a basket. People aren’t the only ones who enjoy nutmegs—the Bandas’ large fruit pigeon eats the apricot-like fruits as well.

Although a fierce eruption in May 1988 forced the evauation of Fire Moutain’s population, some have moved back, learning to live with the occasional tremors and the risk of another eruption in exchange for the island’s bounty of rich soil. You can climb Fire Mountain in a morning, and the view of the crater and surrounding islands is spectacular.

(PeriPlus)

Seram, The Mystical Mother Island of Amboyna

noreply@blogger.com (Anggorowati) — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 19:44:00 +0000

Even at this late date, the Moluccas’ largest island is shrouded in mystery. With a forbidding interior marked by a chain of huge peaks, Seram is as much a place in the imagination as a physical island of rock, jungle and sand. The Seramese are reported to possess strange faculties, allowing them to disappear at will, or transport their bodies hundreds of kilometers away. And these are not prior games—the indigenous peoples, generically called Alfur, have a history of settling scores with enemy heads.

The Amboynese refer to their large, mountainous neighbor with a mixture of respect and awe. They call Seram the Nusa Ina, or “Mother Island”. To the Amboynese, Seram is the source of adapt customary practice, which is central to village life, particularly the pela system of village alliances. Legend even places the beginnings of agriculture on Seram. A beautiful princess, it is told, after being spurned in a love affair, ordered herself killed, cut into pieces and buried. The different limbs of the poor girl then grew into the various root crops (yams, taro, manioc) that now provide the region’s staple diet.
Seram is the largest island in Molucca, and covers 18410 square kilometers, about half the size of the Netherlands. The island stretches 340 kilometers east to west. The tallest peak in the chain of high mountains is Mount Binaija, which reaches 3055 meters. Much of the island is densely wooded, mountainous, but not volcanic. Seram’s eastern point is less mountainous, and is dominated by spreading lowlands and swamps. There are three great bays evenly spaced along the island’s south coast, and one in the middle of the north shore.
In colonial times, the dark-skinned peoples of Seram and other Moluccan islands were called Alfur, from the Portuguese alifuro. The unflattering appellation was synonymous with “savage,” as the members of these tribes were head-hunters and warriors, and generally conducted themselves in a way of which the Europeans did not approve. Today, the term Alfur has taken on al almost honorific connotation, perhaps because the Seramese people are known as being the source of much of Amboyna’s adat.
The Alfur are ethnically distinct form the Austronesian (Malay) people who make up most of Indonesia’s population today. Ethnically they are of Papuan stock, the aboriginal inhabitants of the region. The west and east Seramese are racially somewhat different, with the people from West Seram belonging to the same race as the ethnic Amboynese and other Lease Islanders.
According to colonial accounts, the peoples of Seram varied form fierce head-hunters to peaceful farmers. The most trouble for the Europeans came from the warlike Patasiwa Hitam, who lived in the mountainous interior. A 19th century report notes that, like the Dayaks of Borneo, the Alfurs require a head be chopped off to consecrate a marriage. A pre-World War II account calls the Patasiwa Hitam “among the most feared head-hunters in the Indies…giving the Dutch much trouble.” The same account says the “central districts are inhabited by mixed Alfur tribes, of a more peaceable disposition: the Patasiwa Putih, Patalima and Seti.” The hills and marshes of eastern Seram shelter a Papuan people, the Bonfia, who are shy, unwarlike and culturally distinct from the Alfurs.
Even today, the inhabitants of Seram’s interior are credited with a plethora of magical powers, including the ability to kill an adversary with magic, to render themselves invisible, and to “fly” on sago palm leaves, this last apparently requiring that someone first must be murdered with a metal object. Well-educated Christian Amboynese recount these abilities with curious precision. For instance, one informant said, these gifted Seramese men can hop from Seram to Amboyna, pick up a cold beer, and be back in less than a minute.
The most feared of these are the Bati shaman-warriors, who not only can fly through the air and render themselves invisible, but also possess notorious homicidal tendencies. With the Bati, these powers will be turned against perpetrators (breaking a taboo, failing an adat obligation, even slighting a warrior) to bring swift and supernatural justice. Some of the Bati tribe send their children to school. But the kids have learned enough magic before leaving home. When they need money, it is said, a rice-winnowing tray, offerings of tobacco and mantras are all that is needed to produce the cash.
Few outsiders—and no anthropologists so far—have had contact with the Seram supermen. One account does mention a Seramese group called the Kakehan as harboring the only secret men’s society in Indonesia. Even though many people from the interior have now moved to the coast, according to one recent account they still maintain the suane, the village ritual house where sacred valuables are stored, in their old mountain villages near the spirits.
(PeriPlus)

Soya Atas, The Strange Village

noreply@blogger.com (Anggorowati) — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 19:40:00 +0000

The most pleasant trip out of Amboyna is also the shortest. The village of Soya Atas, perches 400 meters up the flank of 950-meter Mount Sirimau. A pretty little church sits in Soya Atas’ clean village plaza, and it is faced by the raja’s house, filled with momentos from the days of past splendor, when this raja controlled the city. But there is something strange about Soya Atas.

In colonial times, Nenek Luhu, the daughter of raja of Soya Atas, fell in love with a Dutch official. Her father disapproved of the match and the girl drowned herself out of grief. Her spirit, it is said, has never found peace and occasionally returns to this area: to kidnap a foreign man, to replace the babies she never had. The kidnappings all follow the same pattern. The victim disappears completely for a few days, then is discovered, sometimes dead. If not dead, he is in shock, dazed, or in a trance. The “cure” is for the victim to be given a drink of water by the Raja of Soya. Then all is well, except the victim can never recall what happened.

“[Soya’s] best documented kidnapping took place just before the Second World War, when Indonesia still belonged to Holland,” writes Shirley Deane. “The Dutch Governor General came to Amboyna on an official visit, and stayed with the Dutch Resident in his house above the city. He disappeared, while taking a stroll alone round the well-guarded gardens before dinner. There was, of course, a full-scale, frantic search, with the entire army and police force, and most of the population of Amboyna looking for him. He was found in a trance three days later, quite near Soya, in a place which had been thoroughly searched before, by the present Rajah who was then a little boy of nine. The boy’s grandfather, Rajah then, brought him round with water from the well—and was rewarded, at his own request, with scholarships for his sons to be educated in Batavia.”

When in Soya, it’s best to not think about this too much, and instead, walk past the neat village houses and up a little rise to perhaps the best preserved (and certainly most accessible) baileo, or ritual meeting place, on the island. The meeting place includes ancient megaliths and stone seats for dignitaries. The main path next to the balileo winds upward to about 700 meters where there is a sacred site at the top of the hill. A stone throne, encircled by croton bushes, faces a splendid panorama—Mount Salahutu, the Lease Islands, Leitimur’s southern coast, and sometimes, in the faint distance, Banda’s Fire Mountain.

The shrine holds a sacred urn, the Devil’s Urn, that never empties of water even during the driest parts of the year. The water cures illness, brings prosperity, and can even encourage the affections of the person of your choice.

If you are visiting Soya Atas on the second Friday of December, you can witness the Purifying the Village ritual. An ancient rite preserved despite Christianity, the ceremony rids the area of evil influences, and assures the land’s fertility and the people’s good health. In addition to the magic, the down-to-earth locals scrub their houses inside and out, wash the streets and clean up all the garbage.

For the ambitious, several paths (you need a guide) lead downward to Leitimur’s southern coast from the Soya Atas area. All offer beautiful scenery and the chance to witness traditional Amboynese life, but the path past the isolated villages of Hatalai and Naku is the most interesting.

Moluccas, Crystal Water, Sacred Eels, Odd Tales

noreply@blogger.com (Anggorowati) — Sun, 02 May 2010 19:37:00 +0000

Amboyna Island is the best known, and most developed island in the Moluccas. Good paved roads reach most of the important villages, and they unfold beautiful panoramas: steep mountains, curved bays and deep blue seas. The island provides fascinating cultural spectacles as well: sacred eels, a supernatural kidnapper who inhabits a mountain village, and the yearly sapulidi ritual in the Muslim villages of the north, where young men beat each other until their blood runs.

The rugged island of Amboyna is made up of two peninsulas, joined together by a tiny spit of land. In fact, geologists speculate that the two peninsulas were once separate islands, until the force of the sea built up the tiny spit of land that now connects them. In the past, Amboyna Bay to the southwest and Baguala Bay to the east would have been a continuous channel separating the islands.

Amboyna’s 761 square kilometers are mountainous, and the rise from the sea to 1038 meter Mount Salahutu is steep. Where it is not too rough to farm, Amboyna’s soil is rich. Numerous volcanic eruptions were reported on the west side of the island up until the end of the 17th century. Things quieted down, and no live volcano has been seen here since 1824, when the last crater was formed.

Amboyna blessed with many beaches of clean sand, lapped by warm tropical waters. The spots closest to town are crowded on weekends, but on weekdays these same beaches are almost deserted. Diving off Amboyna’s coasts can be disappointing, as much of the coral has been destroyed to make cement or building blocks for the city’s building boom.

One of the most popular beaches on the island is Natsepa, at Baguala, a short 17 kilometers from Amboyna city, just past Passo on Hitu’s southeast coast. The main road forks just past Natsepa and the right branch passes through Suli village before twisting for 8 kilometers along the coast to Tengahtengah, a Muslim fishing village on a lovely cove. The pebble beach is too uncomfortable for tanning, but you can hire an outrigger to take you to any of number of fine swimming spots.

Past Tengahtengah, the coast road leads to Tulehu, the ferry landing for Saparua, Haruku, Seram and the other Lease Islands to Amboyna’s east. A more direct route to Tulehu, just 24 kilometers from Amboyna city, is the highway past Natsepa. Just 5 kilometers from Tulehu is the village of Waai, the site of one of the island’s strangest spectacles—the sacred eels.

A crystal clear stream flows out of a cave into a shallow pool, empty except for some carp. The keeper flicks his fingers on the surface, and at this signal the sacred eels slither out of the cave. He then takes a chicken egg and breaks it underwater, to be gobbled up by the quickest of the eels. The meter-or-more-long fish receive these attentions because they embody ancestral spirits.

Legend has it that the pools were created by a raja’s spear. Casting about for a place for his people to relocate, the raja hurled his spear from his mountainside dwelling, proclaiming that wherever it landed would be the suitable place. The great spear carved out quite a divot, and what was left filled with water and became the pools. Locals believe that when the eels and carp (which are also sacred, although they receive no eggs) swim away, a disaster will occur. This portent last occurred in the 1960s, and sure enough, an epidemic struck. Once the villagers made atonement to the ancestral spirits, the eels returned and the disease stopped.

(PeriPlus)

The Origin of The Spice Isles

noreply@blogger.com (Anggorowati) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 19:31:00 +0000

The earliest record of the Spice Isles was penned by the Chinese. It is possible that northern China acquired cloves through the Yueh merchants who bartered for the spice in Philippines. The Early Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D.200) annals state that the officers of the court were required to put cloves in their mouths before addressing the emperor. It is perhaps the corruption of the Chinese xiang ding—“fragrant nails”—that led to the contemporary Indonesian word for cloves, cengkeh. A later Chinese source mentions Tan Yu—Ternate?—as the source for cloves (today called ding xiang, “nail incense”).

A logical deduction, taking into account geography, wind patterns, naval craft, navigational technology and history, would conclude that cloves were first introduced to Java, then to India and later to China. There had been contacts for many centuries between the Moluccas and islands to the west. Banggi—as well as Buton and Selayar—had provided the Moluccas with iron axes, swords and knives.
Pre-Muslim Arab sailors and overland caravans brought cloves to the Roman Empire where they fetched one hundred times their value in India. An apocryphal reference from Pliny the Elder’s A.D. 79 Historia Naturalis might pass for the earliest unquestioned mention of this spice in the Roman Empire surfaces in a law digest of A.D. 176. After this, cloves and nutmeg were always referred to as the most prized of commodities arriving from India. The Romans used cloves in cooking, and most importantly, to scent the air in their temples and during funerals.
From the law digest, we learn that cloves were imported through Alexandria by Eastern merchants who would accept only hard metal cash in exchange. As many a trader was subsequently to discover, European goods were not wanted in Asia (except for Venetian glass). Later, the Spanish had to fill the Manila galleon with American silver to obtain Far East luxuries.
From the T’ang Dynasty (A.D. 618-906), calls the clove-producing islands “Mi Li Ku,” pretty close to the current “Molucca”. Other sources attribute “Molucca” to “Jaziratul Jabal Malik,” a term derived from the Arbic expression for the lands or islands of kings; still others suggest it comes from “Maloko Kirana,” meaning “area of mountainous islands,” referring to Ternate, Tidore, Makian and either Bacan or Halmahera.
Cloves appear in the Arab tales of Sinbad the Sailor in A.D. 1001—together with less than accurate descriptions by the Islamic geographers Masudi and the usually knowledgeable Ibnu Batuta. During his sojourn in Sumatra, Marco Polo also mentions the clove trade, but prudently refrains from a distorted description of the region.
(PeriPlus)

The Spice and The Age of Exploration

noreply@blogger.com (Anggorowati) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:13:00 +0000

In Medieval Europe, cloves, nutmeg and mace were literally worth their weight in gold. When Magellan’s round-the-world expedition—with five fully outfitted ships and 230 men—finally limped home after three years with just over one ton of cloves, it was still enough not only to pay back the Spanish king’s huge investment, but to make the survivors rich for life. The spices were highly coveted, not only to make badly preserved meat palatable, but also as medicines and the ingredients in magic potions—which, at the time, were thought to be able to cure anything from the plague to a lover’s anguish.

The islands that held the promise of such great wealth and fueled Europe’s Age of Discovery are barely visible on any world map. Yet the tiny Banda islands produced the entire world’s supply of nutmeg and mace; and Ternate and Tidore, and a few other nearby specks off western Halmahera, were the source of every clove that flavored every roast served in the castles of Europe.

During the Middle Ages, well-organized and armed Arab traders kept a stranglehold on the spice trade to Europe. They kept the supply to their Venetian partners to a steady trickle, and the Europeans were forced to pay any price that was asked. But Europe was busy with the crusades, and the overland route to the East was blocked by the Muslims. Then history took a fateful turn, and in 1453, Constantinople fell to the Turks—quashing any hopes of a direct overland route to the Spice Isles.

Tiny Portugal was the first to act on a large scale. Her dynamic neighbor, Spain, was succeeding in pushing back the Moors and was on her way to dominating the whole Iberian peninsula. Portugal had to expand or be swallowed up into Spain.

Triggered by the foresight and fortunes of Prince Henry the Navigator (1394-1460), Portuguese sailors began a series of epic voyages down the coast of Africa, and in 1498 Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope and made his landfall in India. Under Alfonso de Albuquerque, the Portuguese captured Malacca, the key spice entrepot of the spice trade, in 1511.

Although heroics played a part, Portugal’s victory in the spice race was basically a result of technological advantage: ships, navigational instruments and—most of all—ship-mounted cannon. Asia had never seen anything like the Portuguese carrack, which was fast, stable and bristled with cannon.

In Malacca, Albuquerque learned the route to the Spice Isles. Within a year, in 1512, Antonio de Abreu led a flotilla of three small vessels of 50 tons each and a total of 120 men to the Banda Islands. On the return to Malacca, one of the ships, captained by Fransisco Serrao, grounded on a reef off an uninhabited islet, Nusa Telu, near West Amboyna. (Some accounts locate the wreck in the Lucipara Islands.) The survivors commandeered a passing local boat and made their way to North Amboyna Island.

Hearing of a new breed of men, Sultan Al Manshur of Ternate sent kora-kora war canoes to fetch them. Serrao became the sultan’s trusted advisor, especially in military affairs, until his death in 1521. Eight months later, the sad remains of Ferdinand Magellan’s Spanish financed round-the-world team reached Ternate. From east and west the Iberians had found the Moluccas.

(PeriPlus)

Moluccas, Cloves, Nutmeg

noreply@blogger.com (Anggorowati) — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:07:00 +0000

Moluccas is most famous for two trees: the nutmeg and the cloves. At one time, the Banda Islands were the nutmeg garden of the world. Few cultivated plants are more beautiful than nutmeg trees (Myristica fragrans), which thrive on Banda’s moist air and light volcanic soils. The hard, aromatic “nut” or seed of this tree is ground into the familiar spice. Even more valuable however, is mace, a spice prepared from the bright red, waxy aril that covers this nut. Nutmeg trees are somewhat sensitive, like coffee, and are cultivated in groves protected by tall kanari trees. (Ironically, nutmeg prices have fallen so much that the rich, aily kanari nuts planted to protect the nutmeg now produce a crop that is more valuable.)
Cloves were the most valuable of Molucca’s spices. Until the Dutch intruded, all of the world’s cloves came from five small islands off the west coast of Halmahera: Ternate, Tidore, Moti, Makian and Bacan. Wild cloves, native to these islands, possessed little flavor, and were tended by man to produce fragrant, spice grade cloves.
The spice comes from the flower buds, which cluster at the ends of the twigs of a moderate-seized tropical evergreen tree called Eugenia aromatica. These nail-shaped buds (the English word “clove” comes from the French clou, or “nail”) are dried and used whole or ground. An average tree yields a few kilos of cloves per year, gathered form June through December with June-September being the peak harvest.
There are relatively few flowering plants in Molucca, and trees are chief among the islands’ plant species. The coconut tree provides nourishment and sustains an export market in copra, dried coconut meat which is used in cooking and is pressed to yield oil for cooking and cosmetics. Fruit trees are not uncommon in the islands, but there are fewer than in mainland Asia. Bananas are everywhere and many families plant papaya trees. Less common are rambutans and the universally appreciated mangosteen.
One of the region’s most famous fruits is the durian. Foreigners are often repelled by this incomparable fruit’s strong smell, but according to one 17th century account, “the natives give it honorable titles and make verses on it.” Wallace, for this part, considered that it was worth a trip to the East just to eat durian. He first says the flavor cannot be described, then characterizes it as “a rich butter-like custard highly flavored with almonds…intermingled with wafts of flavor that call to mind cream cheese, onion sauce, brown cherry, and other ingredients…the more you eat of it, the less you feel inclined to stop.” The strong flavor of the durian inspires either love or hate. And it takes strong, knowledgeable hands—and a heavy knife—to open the spiny husk of this pineapple-sized fruit and get at the creamy pulp.
Wallace waxes only slightly less eloquent when writing of the breadfruit: “a luxury I have never met with before or since [coming to Amboyna].” Baked on hot embers, he compares the taste to Yorkshire pudding. “With meat and gravy, it is a vegetable superior to any I know, either in temperate or tropical countries. With sugar, milk, butter, or treacle it is a delicious pudding.”
Taro and yams were brought from the Asian mainland by the early inhabitants of the Moluccas and, along with rice and millet, were the staples of the Moluccan diet. Since the introduction of sweet potatoes from the New World (perhaps as early as the 5th century A.D., or much later by the Portuguese) this vegetable has become popular. The basic farming method is the Moluccas is swidden agriculture (slash-and-burn).
Manioc was also brought from the New World by the Portuguese, and today is the most frequently planted root crop in Moluccas. Manioc (also called cassava) yields more than either taro or the native yams, and with less work. Corn from the Americas is now thoroughly integrated into the diet. On the arid islands between Timor and Tanimbar only corn can be grown. Even corn cannot survive seasonal drought, and in the dry Southwestern Islands, January and February are called the “hunger season”.
(PeriPlus)

Moluccan Wildlife

noreply@blogger.com (Anggorowati) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:03:00 +0000

As one might expect of an island region, where dispersal required the ability to fly or swim, the wildlife of the Moluccas is marked by a scarcity of land mammals and a profusion of birds, insects and fish. The animal world can be characterized as having an impoverished Asian fauna, supplemented by scattered Moluccan endemics and some representatives of the Australian sphere.
During his years of exploration, Wallace found only 10 species of land mammals, several of which were likely to have been introduced by man. The Macaca Nigra, which he found only on Bacan, the civet cat, the Babirusa (only on Buru), deer and a small shrew were brought in as domestic animals or pets, according to the eminent naturalist.
Except for the wild pig, the indigenous species are all marsupials. These include a small, flying opossum and the cuscus, a cat-sized, tree-dwelling creature with a long, prehensile tile, a small head, large eyes and woolly fur. The cuscus is cute little bugger, but unfortunately makes good eating. When sighted, these slow-moving animals are captured by climbing the trees and just grabbing them. Molucca also hosts 25 species of bats.
Moluccan waters harbor an unusual marine mammal as well, the sluggish and gentle dugong. A relative of the freshwater manatee, it is the only marine mammal that is an herbivore. This poor beast is now endangered, thanks to poachers, who eat the 400-600 kilo animals and make cigarette holders out of their tusks.
Although he found few mammals, “The fishes,” Wallace writes, “are perhaps unrivalled for variety and beauty by those of any one spot on earth.” As Wallace notes in 1863, the renowned Dutch ichthyologist Dr. Pieter Bleeker had already identified 780 fish species in Amboyna harbor alone, almost as many species as are found in all the rivers and seas of Europe.
In Wallace’s treks through the forest he saw numerous insects and brilliant birds. The sheer numbers of birds, he notes, are not as high as, for example, tin he tropical Americas. But among the 265 species he identified were some real beauties. The majority were parrots, pigeons, kingfishers, sunbirds and, in the Arus, the spectacular birds of paradise. The 25 parrots include red-crested and sulfur-crested cockatoos, red parrots and crimson lories.
Some of the islands host the bush turkeys or megapodes, primitive birds that lay their eggs in a nest consisting of a huge pile of vegetation or sand, sometimes reaching eight metes in diameter and two meters in height. These birds are evolutionary throwbacks and do not incubate their eggs, but bury them like reptiles. The warm sand or decomposing vegetation provides the heat necessary to hatch the eggs. The chicks, which gestate for a remarkably long two months, spring from their shells quite well-developed and require no further maternal assistance. Unfortunately for the megapodes, man finds their flesh quite tasty, and if the prominent fests are found, steals the eggs too.
The large, extraordinary cassowary, found in Molucca only on the Aru islands and Seram, also ends up in the natives’ pots. These birds are hunted carefully, as the flightless, ostrich-like cassowaries have disemboweled men with their sharp claws and tough feet. The birds stand up to a meter and a half tall, and their large bodies are covered with hair-like feathers—these are used in headdresses and other ornamentation. Instead of wings, cassowaries sprout a group of horny black spines, something line blunt porcupine quills. The birds feed on fallen fruit, insects and crustaceans. The species found on Seram is called the helmeted cassowary because of the horny casque of helmet that adorns its head. The bare skin on the neck of this species is conspicuous with bright blue and red colors.
“There is, perhaps, no island in the world so small as Amboyna [Amboyna] where so many grand insects are to be found,” Wallace writes. The most dramatic is the grand bird-winged butterfly (Ornithoptera Poseidon), whose brilliant blue-green wings, 20 centimeters across, gracefully carry its golden, crimson-breasted body. In addition to the colorful butterflies, Wallace found endless joy in the many strange beetles he found.
(PeriPlus)

Mixed Moluccan Species

noreply@blogger.com (Anggorowati) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:58:00 +0000

The plants and mammals of the Moluccas are much like those present on Hollywood tropical islands. Overhead are exotic clove and nutmeg trees, coconut palms, bananas, and trees sprouting strange and fragrant tropical fruits. A great variety of birds – pigeons, sunbirds, lories, cockatoos, and kingfishers – fly and screech overhead. Jus offshore, the coral-filled seas teem with bright fish, anemones, and sponges. Even scientist are moved to grandiloquence.
“The forests of the Moluccas offer to the naturalist a very striking example of the luxuriance and beauty of animal life in the tropics,” writes British naturalist Sir Alfred Russel Wallace in The Malay Archipelago. “The glorious birds and insects render the Moluccas a classic ground in the eyes of the naturalist, and characteristic and beautiful upon the globe.”
From the biologist’s point of view, Molucca—except for Aru—falls into a large area called Wallacea, named after Wallace, who spent eight years here during the 1850s.
In an 1863 paper Wallace had drawn a red line on the map of the Indies west of Sulawesi and Lombok, dividing Asian and Australian faunas. T.H. Huxley later called it “Wallacea’s Line.” As evidence grew, more lines were proposed, but scientists now think of a transition zone rather than a line.
Wallacea is the island region between the Sunda and Sahul continental shelves. During the great Ice Ages, with much of the world’s water tied up in ice, much the South China Sea was dry land, and Sumatra, Borneo, Java and Bali were all connected to the Asian mainland. At the same time, New Guinea was connected to Australia by a land bridge. When the Ice Ages receded, the seas rose and the western land mass became the islands of today. New Guinea and the Arus separated at the same time from Australia.
The Moluccas therefore form a transitional zone between the two very different types of plant and animal species—those characteristic of Asia (e.g., placental mammals), and those characteristic of Australia (e.g., marsupials). As a result of selective migrations of species and their ensuing isolation on these islands, many unique hybrids and evolutionary holdovers found nowhere else in the world flourish in the Moluccas.
(PeriPlus)

Moluccas, Islands of Coral and Islands of Fire

noreply@blogger.com (Anggorowati) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:37:00 +0000

Molucca’s thousand-odd islands (one count claims 999; another 1029) estend across an area of some 851000 square kilometers, only 10 percent of which is land. Geologically, biologically and culturally, these islands form a fascinating zone of transition between the Sunda Islands to the west and the Sahul zone in the east.

In geological terms, the Molucca island chain is an infant, no more than a few million years old. Still, it is amazingly complex. Three of the earth’s great tectonic plates meet in the Moluccas. The plate collide directly, scrape past each other, force another plate up or down, or fragment, producing a variety of geological effects. The result is the great, 6000-kilometer-long Indonesian Ring of Fire. One end is marked by the Nicobar and Andaman islands; the other, the arc leading up through Molucca and into the Philippines.

Though Molucca, this island arc is split. In the south, the outer arc is formed of contorted, mostly calcareous mudstones, limestones, and a some rare intrusive rock. This outer arc marks the northern boundary of the shallow Arafura Sea. It begins in the west with the barren, uplifted coral reefs of the Leti and Babar islands, and continuing counterclockwise, includes the forested, slightly larger Tanimbars, the Kei, Watubela and Gorong groups, and finally hooks sharply back to include large, almost inaccessibly mountainous, Seram and Buru. Somewhat east of this outer arc is the Aru group, built a raised coral reefs cut through with narrow, mangrove-lined channels.

The inner arc is geologically quite different. A continuation of a chain that includes Sumatra, Java and Bali, here are the volcanic islands, beginning with large Wetar in the west, and extending northeast through the Damar group to include tiny Fire Mountain in Banda. These islands mark a plate boundary, where molten rock has worked up through fissures in the earth’s crust.

North of Seram, the double line of islands becomes less clear. The strangely shaped island of Halmahera (like Sulawesi, formed by the slow collision of two narrow islands) is marked on its western side by a line of young, active volcanoes, including Ternate. The rest of Halmahera is made up of older volcanic rock, calcareous sediments, and ultrabasic materials forced up from beneath the ocean.

Taliabu and Mangole Islands are anomalous, having been formed when granitic fragments of the earth’s crust were torn from the land mass of New Guinea and carried several hundred kilometers away by currents of magma. These islands disrupt the symmetry of the double chain.

(PeriPlus)

Molucca At A Glance

noreply@blogger.com (Anggorowati) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 13:27:00 +0000

The Moluccan archipelago, a thousand-odd islands in a vast expanse of blue, lies well beyond Bali and the usual Indonesian tourist circuit. Some of the islands are volcanic, and dressed in luxuriant vegetation. Others are coral atolls, lined with swaying palms. But there are all beautiful. And they are blessed with some of the finest beaches in the world: oases of soft sand and impossibly blue water.
Molucca’s Spice Islands have a rich, though not particularly savory, history. Tiny isl

How was the Prambanan Chandi formed?

noreply@blogger.com (Anggorowati) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 08:57:00 +0000

Everyone who journeyings to the Middle Java sooner or later visits the Prambanan Chandi and the Borobudur Chandi. And they may think how the Prambanan Chandi was formed. Long years ago these questions and the answers to them became the myths and legends of the people of Middle Java, told and retold down to the present day. The story goes. Roro Jonggrang was the daughter of King Baka, who reigned over the ancient Javanese kingdom of Prambanan. King Baka was a barbarous, knock-down king who reigned by sheer terror, and for a long time none dared challenge him-but at last, in a fierce battle, he was killed by the King of Pengging Kingdom. This victory was due to the King’s 1st minister Bandawasa, who fought with a weapon possessing supernatural powers. Bandawasa had named his magic weapon called Bandung, and for this reason he himself was known as Bandung Bandawasa.

Upon the defeat of King Baka, the King of Pengging Kingdom established Bandung Bandawasa in the palace at Prambanan. Shortly after his arrival, Bandung Bandawasa expressed his desire to take to wife the Princess Roro Jonggrang, the daughter of his victim. Now Roro Jonggrang had no desire whatsoever to marry the murderer of her own father, but she had little choice in the matter. She and the Patih talked over the problem at great length. If the Princess rejected Bandung Bandawasa’s marriage offer, there was no foreknowing what dire results might follow; if she accepted, it would break off her heart. Finally, the Patih made a wise suggestion: the Princess had better accept the marriage offer, but on conditions that Bandung Bandawasa could not possibly fulfill.

The conditions were these: Bandawasa was to build a thousand temples, and additionally, two deep wells, and the work was to be completed in one nighttime. When Bandung Bandawasa was told of the Princess’ requirements, he objected strongly to himself, but to the Princess he stated his readiness to do what she demanded of him. As luck would have it for Bandawasa, there were two persons he could call upon for help, both of whom possessed magic powers. One was his father, Damarmaya, who had at his performing superhuman tasks. The other was the mighty King of Pengging whom once he himself had helped in the defeat of King Baka. Both expressed their willingness to help Bandawasa complete the temples and the wells in the conditioned time.

The date was fixed, and in the evening Damarmaya’s ground forces, with the followers of Bandung Bandawasa, began their giant construction job. Miraculously five hundred temples had already been completed by midnight. Roro Jonggrong had sent a representative to watch the progress of the work, and by four o’clock in the morning he saw nine hundred and ninety five temples already constructed, and two deep wells nearly completed. He returned to the palace with newsworthiness of this incredible progression, and the Princess and the Patih and the whole palace were filled with confusedness, knowing that if the Princess’ conditions were fulfilled, as it now appeared they'd be, the Princess would have to marry the man had murdered her father. What were they to do?.

Over again, the Patih had an idea. Quickly he went to several nearby villages where he waked the young maidens and ordered them to fetch their rice pounders and begin pounding rice immediately. Around each rice-pounder he cautiously arranged fragrant flowers. With all their magic, the workmen still had to work frantically to complete the temples and wells in time, and they were so deeply engaged in their hammering and chiseling that they didn't even hear the 1st sounds of the pounding of rice. Then one of the men caught it; then another, and another, each one of them stopping for a moment to listen-and then, as the sound became clearer, all of them stopped, for the pounding of the rice as well as the fragrance of the flowers permeating the air about them were signs that dawn had broken and their work was over.

At break of dawn Bandawasa was at the site to view the work of his men. With a joyous heart he gazed upon the tremendous assemblage of temples before him. He counted them himself-and to his great consternation discovered that there were nine hundred ninety nine temples! He soon learned the reason for the failure of his men to reach the goal, and in blazing anger he pronounced a curse on all young maidens in the neighbourhood of Prambanan. Roro Jonggrang herself he changed into a statue, and to this day she stands in the great inner hall of the largest of the temples, known as The Prambanan Chandi a.k.a. The Temple of Roro Jonggrang. And even though Bandung Bandawasa’s army came short of the thousand he had demanded of them, the whole group near the Temple of Roro Jonggrang is still called The Thousands Temples.[email_link]

Myth and Legend

noreply@blogger.com (Anggorowati) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 09:30:00 +0000

Travellers who venture to the Bali island sooner or later visit the lake of Batur at the foot of Mount Kintamani and climbs the stairs of the temple of Besakih for a panorama of Mt. Agung, the Bali’s holy mountain. Travellers who venture further may cross the Bali Strait to island of Madura, or take a ferryboat from island of Bali to the island of Lombok, where they may try to reach the summit of Mt. Rinjani, the Nusantara’s 2nd highest volcano.

How was the lake of Batur formed, and how did the Bali Strait come into being? Where did Mt. Rinjani get its name? who watered the beautiful terrasse rice fields of Bali and builts its many temples? Long years ago these questions and the answers to them became the myths and legends of of the people of Bali and Lombok, told and retold down to the present day.

Their fairytales and fables sound familiar to us, since folklores have always existed in many places, in many different versions. The characters are similar; only the names are different. The moral is the same too, expressed in a variety of ways. In the Balinese folklores we find the legendary giant Kbo Iwo and the wayward Manik Angkeran. We read how the Half-Child becomes whole again, and we find that the trickster Mhevrotain is in Balinese folklore too. Of course Gecko is there, and the holy man Nabi Ilir, and the Slippers of Buffaloskin. Orphan Child and his friends seem too, and Lo’Lombo the straight and Lo’Bengkok the crooked, all of them reflecting the attitudes, ideas, and humor of the people of Bali and Lombok.

The Myth of The GAMELAN

noreply@blogger.com (Anggorowati) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:21:00 +0000

In the ancient text of the Serat Sastramiruda there is a myth telling of the development of the Slendro and Pelog Ghamelan, and although it's of course quite unscientific, it does convey the generally accepted view of Javanese society that the ghamelan is the gift of the gods to human being. The myth runs as follows:

When the Bathara Guru (Shiva) came to earth in human form, he became a king with the name of Shri Padhuka Maharaja Dhewa Buddha and had his court in Medangkemulan. He built a beautiful new palace on Mahendra mountain, now called Mount Lawu. Every day in the palace his courtiers played on the so-called Ghamelan Lokananta which consists of a small cymbal, large cymbals, a drum, and a gong. This music was very primitive and it was used to accompany the Lenggotbawa dance of the gods. When Shiva returned to the seat of the gods he was succeeded as king of Medangkemulan by Bhatara Indera, another god who took the name of Sanghyang Suraphati. His palace was called Suralaya. During this time a great star came to earth and turned into 7 nymphs: Suprabha, Wilutama, Warsiki, Surendra, Gagarmayang, Irimirim, and Tunjungbiru. These beautiful nymphs were ordered by the prince to dance round the palace's ornamental pool. They did so, dancing in a line to the accompaniment of songs. The king was then inspired to add the flute to the instruments of the ghamelan and to give them the five-note mode. The flute was made of bamboo, and had four holes. The drum still provided the basic rhytm, and the tune which was used for the accompaniment of the nymphs' dance is called the Swaraketawang. Afterwards the number of the dancers was increased to nine and the Bedaya dance of the palace to his day uses nine dancers, some of them with special names, such as Pembatak, Hapit Endhelajeg and Endhelwaton. At that stage; the ghamelan was then called Lokananta Surendrabuwana. Perhaps there is some connection here with the historical fact of the coming of the House of Syailendra form South Andalas. This dynasty ruled over territory extending to Middle Java, and built the Kalasan temple dedicated to Dewi Tara.

Later Bhatara Citrasena was ordered to go to Purwacarita, to give the Ghamelan to Shri Raja Kanoo. This prince was very gratified by the gift of the Ghamelan instruments and added to the Ghamelan Surendra certain other instruments such as the rebab (a one-stringed instrument) and the Salugi, Dada, Gulu, and Barang. The prince gave to his invention the name Ghamelan Salendro, and many tunes were composed in the 3 groups of Pathet Nem, Pathet Sanga, and Pathet Manyura. Besides the Ghamelan used for accompanying the dances, King Kanoo also composed martial music which became known as Ghamelan Mardangga and which employed the following instruments in the Slendro mode: Kala, Sangka, Bahiri, Gurnang, Tongtong Grit, Maketeg, and Magurugangsa.

When Phrabu Basurata reigned in the kingdom of Wirata, he added the Ghendher and Salukat to the Ghamelan, and composed tunes specially for the Ghendher, When the four kingdoms of Jenggala, Kediri, Singosari, and Ngurawan flourished in Java, all four kings held in their courts performances of the Srimpi dance, performed by 4 women dancers accompanied by the Ghamelan Slendro. This was about the beginning of 13th century.

When Raden Panji Kasatrian became king he took the name Suryamesisa, and added the following instruments to the Ghamelan: Bhonang Panerus, Dhemung, Saron Bharung, Kecer, Ketipung, Slentem, and Kempul; and the Ghamelan as then constitued was also used to accompany wayang performance. The same prince also added a kind of zither, and composed the classic tunes Gendhings; Monggang, Kodhok Ngorek, Corobalen, and Galaganjur, all in the Slendro mode. To train the soldiers in the art of war, the king composed war dances like the Lawung and Dhadhap while his daughter Dewi Candrakirana developed the Badaya Serimpi dance.

After Islam came to Java, and during the Sultanate of Demak, the Walis decided to use the Ghamelan and the Wayang as a means of propagating the new faith. For example, Sunan Giri composed the Ghamelan Sekaten to be played in the court-yard of the great mosque on the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed. When Sunan giri acted as regent for the young prince of Demak, he composed a new Ghamelan in a new Pelog mode, together with appropriate songs, divided into 3 groupings: Sendhon Nem, Lima, and Bharang. These were used to accompany the Wayang Gedhog.

Nowadays the Wayang Purwa is accompanied by the Ghamelan in the Slendro mode and the Wayang Gedhog by the Ghamelan Pelog, though to make the performance of the Wayang Purwa the more enjoyable and to provide yet more music during the performance, additional ghamelan music is played sometimes in the Pelog mode.[email_link]

Narasumber: Moerdowo,R.M.

The Fighting Techniques

noreply@blogger.com (Anggorowati) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:30:00 +0000

Ampyak Fight

This scene of great activity usually takes place after the departure of the army from its camp and when it encounters obstacles which to be cleared. To symbolize the obstacle the Gunungan figure is placed on the lefthand side of the Kelir screen. After the dhalang has explained the situation, the army symbolically beats againts the Gunungan to show the obstacle being cleared or surmounted. Thus the scene represents cooperation and communal effort in the overcoming of difficulties. The army moves from right to left, struggles with the Gunungan, and indicates the building of the road, the bridging of a river or the scalling of a mountain pass. When the scene is concluded, the dhalang again takes up the story and described the destination of the army.

Gagal Fight

Eventually the knights and their followers encounter the look out and guards of the kingdom they are entering, and the fight, which ensues is called the Perang Gagal. It's so called because in this fight no blood is shed; the fighting is with first, and finally the knightly heroes uses their magical powers to summon up a great wind or mist to confuse and disperse the enemy.

Kembhang Fight

This fight is technically one of the more exacting tests of the dhalang's art of wayang manipulation, and is eagerly awaited by the audience. It commonly takes place at about 1 or 2 a.m. The fight involves a knight or princess and a group of titans, who menace and attack the hero or heroine in a journey. Before the fight, we find the knight or princess in the wood exchanging banter with clowns, in a scene of delightful commedy, which is interrupted by the arrival of the titans. The dhalang is at the fulest extent of his powers in this scene, handling delicate movements while singing the songs and delivering the quickfire dialog of the clowns. It's by this scene and that which ensues that the skill of the dhalang can best be judged. The technique need of course meticulous practice, and the knight or princess prevails not by brute force but by skill in ducking, weaving, and parrying the furious blows of the titans. All this must be indicated by wrist and finger movements on the part of the dhalang. The main movements involved may be summarized as follows: giving rapid blows with the right and left hands; grabbing the Keris, disarming the titan, and killing him with his own Keris.

Ksatriya Fight

In this battle use is made of the Keris and of arrows and the power of the knights lies not in their physical strength, but in their magical power. Most of them cannot be wounded by weapons made of steel. Magical arrows are used which, being shot from the bow, multiply into thousands of darts. The arrows my turn into balls of fire, a rainstorm or a tempest. Sometimes visible weapons are not used at all, the conflict being waged by means of spells and magical incantations. These are sometimes in the form of whole armies of immortal spirits. The knight can himself assume the form of a titan, a garudha, a lion, a tiger, a dragon, wind or fire. Female characters also fight, with daggers and arrows. On the death of her lover, a princess commits suicide with the Keris rather than fall into the hands of his opponent.

Amok Fight

The technique of this fight is nearly the same as that of the Gagal battle, involving fist and kick. Werkodhara fights and defeats the titan king and all his army, when they attack the Pandhava. In the middle of the fight there is a symbolical dance presaging victory known as Tayungan.

Creatures Fight

The movements in this fight depend of course on the different natural weapons of the various creatures. Thus a great snake or dragon will try to swallow its victim, a garudha bird will fight with talons and beak, an elephant uses his trunk and tramples his opponent, while apes bite and throw stones and other missiles.[email_link]

Narasumber: Moerdowo,R.M.

The Calibres of The Good Dhalang

noreply@blogger.com (Anggorowati) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:30:00 +0000

Hamardawa Lagu

The Hamardawa Lagu is the musical skill. The Dhalang must be familiar with all the many tunes used in a performance of wayang play. The Dhalang must understand the texts in old Javanese (the Kawi), and must sing the songs in the proper manner. Many Dhalangs are in fact also skilled instrumentalists, though this particular skill is not used by them in a performance. The Dhalang must only make a dramatic use of the rhythmic rapping on the wayang chest, and the metal clappers, which he holds. He must avoid tedium by filling every scene with appropriate sounds. Thus is Garagara scenes he must improvise humorous songs and jokes, maintaining the balance of different moods. This is one of the important arts demanded of a good Dhalang.

Hamardi Basa

The Hamardi Basa is the knowledge of literature. The Dhalang must learn all the every long speeches he will use in the performance. The Dhalang must for this purpose read widely, especially in the book of wayang scholarship. When thoroughly versed in this ancient literature, his performances will have the life and vigour that spring form authentic understanding. The Dhalang must at the very least read and understand the book of Arjuna Wiwaha by Mpu Kanwa, the Bharata Yudha by Mpu Sedah, Boma Kawya, Smaradhahana, Mahabharata, Ramayana, Pustaka Raja Purwa, and other ancient texts about the wayang. The basic hand book for techniques in the two volumes of the famous ancient text of Serat Sastramiruda. The Dhalang must also be a fine mimic, and must know all the shades of formality in modes of address.

Hawicarita

The Hawicarita is the story-telling ability. The Dhalang must avoid monotony in telling stories, and must be able to hold the interest of his audience. The Dhalang must be expert in selecting from the enormous available literature. The Dhalang must, of course, know his audience, and modify his technique from hour to hour if necessary. He must also know, which of the many wayang stories is appropriate to the celebration of which the particular performance is a part.

Parmakawi

The Parmakawi is the linguistic skill. The Dhalang must be completely familiar with the Kawi language. This severe course of study for the Dhalangs must include straight-forward language teaching, including translation work. But many existing Dhalangs have learned the dialogs from their fathers by rote, without a real understanding of the meaning. For this reason, the language of many of the songs has been corrupted and needs revision.

Paramasastra

The Paramasastra is the grammar. The Dhalang must have a real working knowledge of the language, and this involves grammatical facility also. This skill can best be fostered by sutable study and the publication of texts by the existing institute of professional Dhalang. Whatever improvisation is demanded of the Dhalang, he must of course ramain true to the basic outlines of his stories. He must also give appropriate weight to the various elements, neither shortening nor expanding them. There is a danger, that a Dhalang may take away the embellishments of a play and fail to make it las throughout the night. Conversely, the performance must not drag on after daybreak.

Renggep

The Renggep is the relevance. The Dhalang must stick to his play, and is not permitted to make a allusions or references to his audience which may give offense. The Dhalang must stay within his screen. His jokes must avoid obscenity, which may also give offense, particularly to women. This would be a gross failure of his duty to educate as well as to entertain.

Stamina

Wayang play is always very exhausting, and demands physical and mental stamina of the Dhalang. He must remain in control of all his faculties for the whole night, and must give equal care to the interpretation of the personality of every single wayang character.

Puppetry

The Dhalang of course must be a skilled puppet master.[email_link]

Narasumber: Moerdowo,R.M.

The Handling of The Wayang Puppets

noreply@blogger.com (Anggorowati) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 11:22:00 +0000

The handling of the wayang puppets, a very important element in wayang and considering by some Dhalangs to be the most important aspect of their art. The Dhalang can spellbind the audience by their dexterity in handling the puppets during fight scenes, produces helpless laughter with the antics of the antic figures, and this is all part of the Dhalang's ability to carry the audience's attention. A good test of the dexterity of the Dhalang is the super exacting scene, called the fighting of Perang Kembang, in the midst section. Therein scene a knight is fighting with titans. In the Dhalang's training school of Solo city the course in the handling laid out as follows:

Tancepban. The tancepban is the art of placing the wayang puppets on the banana stem during an actual scene. They must be composed in an artistic grouping. E.g., the king must be placed in a grave and ennobled relationship to his courtiers, and the courtiers in their due rank. A scene in the palace must give an impression of éclat, while a scene in a hermitage must reflect simple piousness. In court or hermitage scenes, the principal figures are placed on the Dhalang's right side, subordinates on his left side. Likewise important and lesser characters are taken off stage to the right and left respectively. Before a battle, the puppets must have an aggressive posture. The art of the tancepban is therefore to convey mood and personality, even when the pupets are not being moved, and to provoke the interest of the whole audience, young and old, sophisticated and simple.

Bedholan. The bedholan is the art of plucking the puppet from its base in a smooth and fluent manner. It's very hard to move a large heavy titan figure with sufficient strength without an appearance of fitfulness. On the other hand, when a small female figure is being handled, a very delicate touch called methit is require. Knights and other larger figures of course need to be took hold of more firmly. When an army or other group figures is lifted, part of its base as well as its central support is gripped, for additional steadiness. This handle is called nyangak. It would be a tragedy, if the Dhalang were to drop a puppet, when lifting it from rest; this accident is guarded against by special holds.

Lampah. The lampah is the conveying of the illusion of movement to the figures of the puppets. It's influenced by several factors such as the age of the wayang character, personality, gender etcetera, as well as temper and function at the moment of movement. E.g., Werkodhara leaps with great footsteps, Gathotkaca flies, while gay young female characters skip lightly. Older female characters move more quietly, titans bluster, apes are acrobatic, and all the other creatures have their characterstic movements.

Perang. The perang is fighting techniques. The technique of handling puppets during a fight or violent activity also has several aspects, with their own names; Perang Ampyak, Perang Gagal, Perang Kembang, Perang Ksatriya, Perang Creatures, and Perang Amok.

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Narasumber: Moerdowo,R.M.