East Java Tourism News

There’s magic in the air for fortune seekers at Mount Kawi

Indra Harsaputra ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Malang

Mount Kawi, a major tourist destination near Malang city in East Java, is renowned for attracting fortune seekers.

People visit Mount Kawi to ask for blessings and wish for many different things — a successful business, to meet their life partner or for a good career. It is even common to see ambitious politicians who wish to obtain a high-ranking position hold hajatan (a prayer ritual) at Mount Kawi while offering gifts.

Chinese descendants who live in the East Java town of Kediri, for instance, believe a visit to Mount Kawi, which is located in Wonosari village, will bring good fortune to their business.
Ong Hok Liong, the late founder of the Bentoel cigarette factory in Malang, was reportedly among the frequent visitors to the location, arriving with his wife Liem Kiem Kwie Nio to meditate at the two sacred graves of Mbah Jugo and Mbah Imam Sujono on Mount Kawi’s slopes.

Mbah Jugo and Mbah Imam Sujono were two of the 75 followers of Prince Diponegoro who fled to Malang after the prince’s arrest.

When they were in Malang, which at the time still belonged to Pasuruan Residency, Mbah Jugo and Mbah Imam Sujono together with their colleagues worked to spread Islam.

But there are no clear details to explain why these two graves have become very special; many other graves of important people who worked to spread Islam can be found in East Java.

According to various sources, Ong, for instance, believed he had to carry out rituals at both graves to bring blessings to the cigarette business he pioneered.

Ong had previously failed to market his company’s cigarettes, even after using several brand names, like Boeroeng, Kelabang, Kendang, Toerki and Djeroek Manis.

One night after he had carried out the ritual at Mount Kawi, Ong dreamed of large bentoel (aroid) roots.

When he woke up, he told the caretaker of the graves; on his suggestion, Ong changed the name of his product to Bentoel. In 1947, the Bentoel cigarette factory became extremely successful.

“Ong, when his business became successful, built facilities at Mount Kawi and sponsored puppet performances,” said Munaji, a local tour guide.

Munaji, 40, who grew up in the area, said he learned the details of the rituals performed at Mount Kawi from the time he was still a child.

He said on the first Friday of the five-day week on the Javanese calendar, hotel prices and parking fees at Mount Kawi increased to ten times the price on regular days.

The high prices, however, failed to discourage visitors, he said, and the site continues to be as crowded as ever.

“The residents at Mount Kawi depend on the mountain for an income. The people live adequately and can even become rich from selling goods and providing services to visitors,” Munaji said.

He added those who didn’t have money to open a business usually became tour guides.

Rubaidah, 56, a kitchen staff member who cooks for big ceremonies to inaugurate special events, says she feels blessed on the first Friday night of the Javanese calendar and on other big days.

“The prices increase 70 percent on those Fridays compared to a standard week day,” said the woman who has worked on Mount Kawi for ten years.

Mount Kawi is also a melting pot of Chinese and Javanese cultures.

Before selling incense sticks to be used in prayer rituals, Sukirman, 50, changed into Javanese attire, then ran to serve a visitor planning to pray in an open-sided Javanese meeting hall.

“Most of the employees who work here are obliged to use Javanese dress,” he told The Jakarta Post.

Sukirman has been working at Mount Kawi for almost 20 years and said he was happy to serve visitors to the area.

He added that he not only received a salary from the site’s management, but also received many tips from visitors wanting to show their gratitude for the services he provided.

Sukirman also has the job of ensuring that the flames of ten giant candles never go out. The price of one candle can range from Rp 35 million (US$3,760) to Rp 40 million. The candles represent the businesses of those who purchased them — if the flame goes out, it is considered a sign that the business will fail.

If a candle burns for a year and the wick is almost at its end, Sukirman contacts the owner of the candle to change it. Some owners come to replace their candles, while others who can’t make the journey send money to Sukirman and ask him to change the candle for them.

The mixture of Chinese and Javanese cultures can be seen when visitors enter the ritual site on Mount Kawi; the large gate, for example, has a Chinese architecture style but contains Javanese inscriptions.

The mix of cultures can also be seen in the prayer hall; a building designed as a traditional Javanese-style open hall, but full of objects from China, such as lanterns and displays of Chinese calligraphy.

“We do not discriminate people on their race. Both Javanese and Chinese visitors are the same since they come to pray,” Sukirman said.

Source: The Jakarta Post

Add comment April 21st, 2008

Bronze, silverware craftsmen of Bejijong hamlet

Retno K. Djojo, Contributor, Mojokerto

Trowulan, located some 12 kilometers south of Mojokerto regency in East Java, has long been known as a historical site.

The Hindu and Buddhist-influenced temples that dot the area are evidence of a rich cultural heritage, which also includes ceramic pieces, bronze and silver art and stone carvings.

But the few craftsmen still engaged in creating works of art with religious themes are diminishing, and the few still holding on to their profession are finding it harder to preserve the ancient art they inherited from their ancestors.

Bejijong, a hamlet in Trowulan subdistrict, is known as a center for bronze and silverware — but looking for a craftsman’s workshop in this sleepy little hamlet is like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Arif, a man hard to track down, is the owner of a workshop specializing in bronze, gold and silverware in the hamlet.

“Bronze smithing has become somewhat of a dying art in Bejijong,” said Arif, who inherited a workshop from his late father, adding he had struggled to keep the business afloat.

Arif, who is a teacher by training, said he felt obliged to continue on with the craft; a cultural inheritance that originated from way down the family line.

Leading the way to a workshop at the back of his home surrounded by a spacious yard, he explained that before the economic crises of 1998, there were some 10 silversmiths in the area.

But with a decline in the demand for bronze and silver works of art, they had all closed down business: Arif’s workshop is the last one standing.

Back in the days when his father was still running the business, the workshop employed some 20 craftsmen. But ongoing economic pressures forced the majority of craftsmen to look for work elsewhere.

For more than 25 years, Arif’s workshop has produced Buddha heads, temple bells, miniature temples and figurines of Hindu gods. Art traders sell the handicrafts produced to tourists visiting the temples in Trowulan.

Despite the misfortunes encountered, Arif said he vows to try as hard as he can to keep the business going, as he believes preserving the art will have its rewards.

In order to survive, he accepts orders placed by tourist centers in Bali and Jakarta.

Recent orders are mostly for pieces of art with classical European appeal: A smith at his workshop demonstrates his skill at shaping and welding a model of a Trojan horse.

It is astonishing to watch the smith at work producing an artwork of such refined quality, which originated from a foreign culture. A Trojan horse can fetch some Rp 170,000 (US$18) to Rp 200,000 a piece.

Aside from meeting orders from art dealers, Arif’s workshop continually produces artwork with tradition appeal. He keeps a collection of various models, like an owl paper-weight, and deer, turtle and beetle figurines.

Current economic pressure, he said, is a major threat to the existence of silver and bronze smithing, which previously offered a decent livelihood to quite a number of craftsmen in Bejijong.

Similar concerns have been expressed by a number of stone carvers in the area, who have complained of excessive levies incurred when sending consignments of statues to Bali.

It is not hard to find the workplace of those engaged in stone carving — one only needs to follow the tapping of hammer and chisel echoes along the main artery connecting Mojokerto to Jombang.

The rhythmic tapping sound guides the casual visitor to an empty plot of land where a group of craftsmen work under the shade of trees, giving shape to huge boulders using simple tools.

Their works of art, including ghost houses, Hindu and Buddhist statues as well as carvings for home decorations, lay scattered under the trees.

The craftsmen work together and seem to be able to coordinate their activities without too much conversation.

Despite a lack of formal education, the craftsmen’s skills are able to meet the demand of orders from several tourist centers.

“Craftsmen in Bali have their hands full with the huge demand from tourists there, so some of the orders are placed with stone carvers in Trowulan,” said one carver.

“We are also able to produce artwork with more modern themes, like home decorations with Hellenistic influences, statues for churches or crocodile statues like this one,” he said, pointing to a model of a crocodile some 1.5 meters in length.

Most of Trowulan’s stone carvings end up in Bali, where they are sold to buyers as far away as Australia, England and European countries.

Each of the eight craftsmen that work in Arif’s workshop earn some Rp 500,000 to Rp 800,000 a month.

Though Arif is eager to give the workers a raise, the heavy levies at the harbor in Bali drains the workshop’s income.

“It’s a pity the government does not appreciate our self-employment efforts,” he said. “Especially since economic woes still threaten our existence.”

Source: The Jakarta Post

Add comment April 21st, 2008