The Soul of Java

The Legend of Loro Jonggrang

2008-05-03T00:42:00.005+02:00

Once upon a time in Java Island, especially in Prambanan, there were two Hindu kingdoms, Pengging and Kraton Boko. Pengging Kingdom was a prosperous and welfare kingdom that was lead by a wise king named Prabu Damar Moyo who had a son named Raden Bandung Bondowoso.

Kraton Boko is a part of Pengging Kingdom jurisdiction who was lead by a cruel and fully anger king that is not a man but a giant who was a man eater, named Prabu Boko. However, Prabu Boko had a very beautiful daughter named Princess Loro Jonggrang. Prabu Boko also had a minister named Patih Gupalo and he was a giant too. Prabu Boko had a desire to revolt and has control over Pengging Kingdom. Therefore, together with Patih Gupalo, they gathered the power by training men to become soldiers and collect goods from civil people as provisions.

After they had enough with all preparation, Prabu Boko and all soldiers went to Pengging Kingdom to revolt. Then the war between Pengging and Boko Soldier happened in Pengging kingdom. A lot of soldiers died from both side. People of Pengging became suffer, hunger and poor.Knew that his people were suffering and there were lots of soldiers died, Prabu Damar Moyo sent his son, Raden Bandung Bondowoso to had a battle with Prabu Boko. The fighting between Raden Bandung Bondowoso and Prabu Boko was very furious. Because of the power of Raden Bandung Bondowoso, Prabu Boko can be defeated and died. When Patih Gupalo found out that his king has died, he ran away from the battle.

Raden Bandung Bondowoso chased him to Kraton Boko.When Patih Gupalo arrived at Kraton Boko, he reported about Prabu Boko to Princess Loro Jonggrang, that he was killed in the battle by a Pengging knight named Raden Bandung Bondowoso. Then the princess cried, she was very sad because of the death of her father. Raden Bandung Bondowoso finally arrived at Kraton Boko. He was surprised when he saw Princess Loro Jonggrang that she was very beautiful, so he could not help himself to not proposed her to become his wife.

However, Princess Loro Jonggrang did not want to marry Raden Bandung Bondowoso because he just killed her father. To refuse his propose, Princess Loro Jonggrang had a strategy. She had 2 requests should be fulfilled by Raden Bandung Bondowoso, then she would agree to marry him. The first request was that she asked him to make a well named Jalatunda. The second one was to make 1000 temples in one night. Raden Bandung Bondowoso accepted both requests. Immediately he started to make Jalatunda Well and he asked Princess Loro Jonggrang to see it when it finished.

Then, Princess Loro Jonggrang asked Raden Bandung Bondowoso to go into the well, and after that she ordered Patih Gupolo to pile up the well with stone. Both Princess Loro Jonggrang and Patih Gupolo thought that Raden Bandung Bondowoso had already died in the well, however Raden Bandung Bondowoso was still alive. He meditated and finally he could got out from the well safely.Raden Bandung Bondowoso was very angry with her action and he looked after her but because of her beauty, his anger became calm down.

After that, Princess Loro Jonggrang was asking Raden Bandung Bondowoso to do the second request which was to make 1000 temples in one night. Therefore Raden Bandung Bondowoso commanded genie to make the temples immediately. However Princess Loro Jonggrang intended to foil his effort to make the temples. She ordered the girls to pound and burn stubbles, so that it looked like the bright of sunrise which mean the morning had come and the light plus the noise made the cocks crowed loudly.Heard the cock crowd and people pounded rice and also saw the brightness in the east, therefore the genies were stop making temples.

The genies reported it to Raden Bandung Bondowoso that they could not continue built the temple because morning had come. Raden Bandung Bondowoso got the feeling that the morning had not come yet. He asked Princess Loro Jonggrang to count the amount of the temples and she came out that the total was only 999 temples, there was still 1 temple left. Therefore Princess Loro Jonggrang refused to marry Raden Bandung Bondowoso. Raden Bandung Bondowoso felt deceived then he became very angry and he cursed her "Loro Jonggrang, there is only 1 temple left, let you be the one to make it complete". It was a miracle, suddenly Princess Loro Jonggrang transformed to a stone statue. Raden Bandung Bondowoso also cursed the girls who lived around Prambanan that there would be no man want to marry those girls because they helped Princess Loro Jonggrang.

Until today, the stone statue of Princess Loro Jonggrang is still in Candi Prambanan. Based on what is believed by old people, the couple who are dating in Prambanan temple will be broke up.

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This legend is very famous in Java and correlated with Prambanan Temple (RoRo /Loro Jongrang Temple). Prambanan temple is located in Yogyakarta, Indonesia and the one of the largest Hindu temples in South East Asia. It was build in 850 CE during Sanjaya Dynasty, not long after its construction, the temple was abandoned and began to deteriorate. Reconstruction of the compound began in 1918 and the main building was completed in around 1953.The compound of the temples is assembled of eight main shrines or candis, and more than 250 surrounding individual candis. The three main shrines, called Trisakti ("three sacred places"), are dedicated to the three gods: Siwa ( Shiva) the Destroyer, Wisnu (Vishnu) the Keeper and Brahma the Creator. The Shiva shrine at the center contains four chambers, one in every cardinal direction. While the first contains a three meter high statue of Shiva, the other three contain smaller statues of Durga, his wife, Agastya, a rishi, and Ganesha, his son.(source ; Wikipedia)
The Durga statue is famous with Jongrang or Roro/Loro Jongrang statue and Javanese peoples have a legend for this statue. This myth is always told by parent to their kids and never end until now. Some people believe it until now and believe that the temple complex of Prambanan carries an infamous curse which supposedly is casted upon its lovebird-visitors. Legend has it that if you visit the temple with your boyfriend or girlfriend, you and your lover will breakup shortly after.
Those story above, the complete legend of Roro Jonggrang, is part-copied from http://www.greatindonesia.com/

written and edited by: The soul of java team

Nyi Roro Kidul

2008-04-28T05:27:00.003+02:00

Pajajaran kingdom lied in West Java from 1333 AD to 1630 AD and it was conquered by the Islamic kingdom of Mataram from Central Java.

Pajajaran’s greatest ruler was Prabu (King) Siliwangi. He had a bride in his harems and a very beautiful daughter was born between he and the bride. The girl was called Dewi Kadita and the beauties of Dewi Kadita and her mother made other harems jealous, and they had a conspiracy against them.

The harems used some kind of black magic to make the bodies of Dewi Kadita and her mother to be filthy and they turn to be so ugly and disgusting. Prabu Siliwangi got angry against the mother and the daughter and forced them to get out of the palace, as they were thought to be bad luck for the kingdom. They were wandering around the country and one day the mother died. Dewi Kadita was walking in deep sadness, until she reached the Southern Shore (the shore of Indian Ocean) .

She sat above a rock in a stove shape and when she was sleeping, she had a vision that she must have to jump into the water to help herself out of the curse. When she woke up, with no second thought, Dewi Kadita jumped into the sea. She returned to a beautiful lady as she was but then she realized that she was not a human anymore. She turned into a supernatural form of life. Since then, she ruled all creatures in the southern coast of Java Island, and she was known as Nyi Roro Kidul (Javanese of “Lady of South Sea”). To avenge her father, she became the primary bride for Mataram kings , the rival of Pajajaran kingdom. It’s believed for centuries, even until now.

The river of Bengawan Solo, which started from the mystical mountain of Merapi in Central Java and leads to Indian Ocean, is said as the tunnel used by Nyi Roro Kidul to access Java. And she traps males in green costume who are walking on the shore. They are swallowed by the wave and missing or dead but he will become her guard or (maybe) male.

This either can be the ancient Javanese explanation on the vacuum effect from underwater canyons that lie in the southern shore of Java, where the depth of the ocean’s bed on the shore can reach more than 0-200 meters.

In psychological analysis, Nyi Roro Kidul can be a parallel of the revenge of a female who was once rejected by a male. Once she regains her power and beauty, she takes any man she wants. And yet, I can’t talk my point of view to Javanese elders.

Nyai Loro Kidul or Nyi Roro Kidul or Ratu Laut Selatan (”Queen of the South”) and also known as Kangjeng Ratu Kidul is thought to be a Javanese goddess. The identity is of a goddess or Queen of Southern Sea of Java (Indian Ocean or Samudra Kidul) in Javanese and Sundanese mythology.

Nyai Loro Kidul has many different names, which reflect the diverse stories of her origin. However, for many Javanese it is important that various honorifics, such as Nyai, Kangjeng, and Gusti, are used when mentioning her name. People who invoke her also call her Eyang (grandmother).

Nyai Loro Kidul controls the violent waves of the Indian Ocean. Her dwelling-place is in the heart of the Indian Ocean, which is told to be her realm. Sometimes she is referred as one of the spiritual queens or wives of the Sultan of Yogyakarta or corresponding to Merapi-Kraton-South Sea axis in Yogyakarta Sultanate.

It was Panembahan Senopati (1586-1601 AD), founder of the second Mataram Kingdom, and his grandson Sultan Agung (1613-1645 AD) who named the Kanjeng Ratu Kidul as their bride in the Babad Tanah Jawi.

Nyai Loro Kidul is often illustrated as a mermaid. In this image she is referred to Nyai Blorong who has a mermaid tail as well the lower part of the body of a snake. These creatures take your soul for any wish of material matters addressed to them.

One original telling is about Dewi Kadita of the Pajajaran Kingdom, West-Java, who desperately seeks for the south after black magic that had hit her. She jumps into the violent waves of the Indian Ocean where the spirits and demons crowned the girl to the legendary Spirit-queen of the South.

A very complicated story goes about the Ajar Cemara Tunggal/Adhar Tjemara Toenggal on the mountain of Kombang, a male seer who actually was the great-aunt of Joko Susuruh. She told him to go to the east of Java to found a kingdom on the place where a maja-tree just had one fruit; the fruit was bitter (pait) and the kingdom got the name of Majapait. The seer Cemara Tunggal would marry the founder of Majapait and, any descendant in first line, to help in all kind of matters. Though after he (the seer) would have transmigrated into the “spirit-queen of the south” who shall reign over the spirits, demons and all dark creatures. After all it is because of these traditions that the myth about Nyai Loro Kidul got a Sundanese, West-Javanese origin.

Pelabuhan Ratu, a city in West Java, celebrates an annual holiday in her honor on (New years day in the Javanese calendar). The special day which is dedicated to the Nyai Loro Kidul is on April, the 6th. She is also associated with Parangtritis, Pangandaran, Karang Bolong, Ngliyep, Puger, Banyuwangi, all along the south coast of Java.

There is a local belief that wearing a green garment in these areas will anger her and will bring misfortune on the wearer, as green is her sacred colour. The Samudra Beach Hotel keeps room 308 furnished with green colours & reserved for Nyai Loro Kidul. The first president, President Soekarno, of Indonesia was involved with the exact location and the idea for the Samudra Beach Hotel. In front of the room 308 there is the Ketapang tree where Soekarno got his spiritual inspiration.

Legends recount her love for the Sultan Agung of Mataram, which continues to be recounted in the ritualized bedhaya dance by the royal line of Surakarta, and she is honored by the sultans of Yogyakarta. When Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX died on October 3, 1988, the Tempo newsmagazine reported her sighting by palace servants, who were sure she was paying her final tribute to the dead ruler.

Preserving Borobudur’s Legacy

2008-04-28T04:58:00.004+02:00

The world-famous and heritage-listed Borobudur Buddhist temple was over the weekend the subject of much discourse as experts argued around how best to preserve and maintain not just the temple building — but everything it represents, including religious expression, cultural heritage and art history.

“Long-term preservation must go further than just the recovery of the physical monument,” said the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Director of UNESCO’s Jakarta office, Hubert Gijzen, said the art exhibition, called The Thousand Mysteries of Borobudur, was a joint effort between his office and Jogja Gallery.

Speaking to journalists ahead of the opening ceremony, the exhibition’s curator, Mikke Susanto, said the exhibition, held from April 20 to May 9, showcased more than 50 visual artworks from 24 different mediums.

Gijzen said the unique exhibition was designed to celebrate everything about Borobudur, including its surrounding landscape, its communities and the complex historical significance of the building.

“This is what makes Borobudur a World Heritage site,” he said.
“After such a successful physical restoration, we must address the next challenges — to develop and undertake further studies and research; to restore the natural landscape around the complex; to involve surrounding communities; and to somehow balance all this with sustainable tourism.

“Only this comprehensive approach will lead to true sustainability in the long term,” he said.

Built between 750 and 850, the 40-meter high temple comprises two million huge stone blocks. The building was “lost” for many years and not rediscovered until 1814 during Dutch occupation.

The first restoration phase was conducted in the early 20th century (1905-1911) by Theo Van Erp and focused on improving drainage and structural restoration.

A second massive restoration program was then conducted by the Indonesian government between 1973 and 1983, with full support from UNESCO.

This giant effort bought together 27 countries and a range of private companies from around the world. The total cost was US$25 million.

The celebrationary exhibition at Jogya Gallery includes the Unfinished Buddha statue, which was originally found inside a stupa at Borobudur Temple; old photos of the temple at different stages of its renovation; maps depicting the discovery of the town’s prehistoric lake; comics and sketches of figures who helped unlock the mysteries of Borobudur; and various statues and paintings.

Some exhibits are the works of maestros, including the late Affandi, while some are the work of younger artists who are participating in a competition as part of the exhibition.

A series of supporting programs will be held in conjunction with the exhibition, including screenings of rare films on Borobudur, public readings of a book by the first restorator of Borobudur, Theo Van Erp, heritage walks, seminars, discussions and an essay competition.

In 1991 Borobudur was inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List, confirming it as “a masterpiece of human’s creativity”.

“It seems that the temple is like a diamond and this diamond has been recovered from the deeper layers,” Gijzen said.

“It has been polished and brought to brilliance — Borobudur is truly a precious stone.”

Soul of Java

2008-04-23T19:37:00.002+02:00

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