Message of Peace from the Foothills of Mt. Ciremai

Living in harmony despite differences in religion and ethnicity is more than just a habit in Cigugur district, Cirebon, West Java.

Kompas/Rony Ariyanto Nugroho

People carry rice and crops at the peak of the Seren Taun 1950 Saka Sunda celebration in Cigugur, Kuningan, West Java, on Thursday (14/9). Seren Taun in Cigugur is celebrated both by the Sunda Wiwitan people and the general public who joyfully integrate in diversity.

“Sanajan sewang-sewangan tapi teu ewang-ewangan”, an ancient Sundanese proverb goes. The meaning is similar to Indonesia’s national motto, “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika”. Unity in diversity. Long before the nation achieved independence, the spirit already flourished in Cigugur, Kuningan.

Living in harmony despite differences in religion and ethnicity is more than just a habit in Cigugur district, Kuningan, some 35 kilometers from Cirebon, West Java. A series of Seren Taun ritual events to commemorate the coming of the year 1950 in the Saka Sunda calendar was held from Saturday (9/9/2017) to Thursday (14/9/2017). These events are proof that peace is the lifeblood of the people living on the foothills of Mount Ciremai. Attended by adherents of the local Sunda Wiwitan belief, the annual event is a celebration by and for the people.

The event organizing committee comprised not only Sunda Wiwitan adherents. Christians and Muslims were also involved. Jihan, 24, a Muslim woman wearing a hijab, was one of them. Despite being nine months pregnant, Jihan was deeply involved in preparing this year’s Seren Taun celebration.

“Here, we have different religions but we help one another,” said Jihan, an active member of the Pemuda Lintas Iman interfaith youth community. The Cirebon woman has participated in the event for the past few years.

The Seren Taun celebration is even more amazing. It conveys the important message of Indonesia that yearns for the beauty of diversity. The ritual of singing spiritual chants at the peak of the celebration exemplifies this.

Religious leaders and representatives of local belief adherents take turns in praying to God. The prayers are mostly about peace on earth and national unity.

Do not ever think that any of this is set up. The spiritual chanting takes place every year without any coercion. The event is solemn without the need for any angry shouting.

Working together and mutual assistance is the key. “Usually we need Rp 100 million [US$7,400) to hold a Seren Taun celebration. However, we have no sponsors here. Everything is achieved through the spirit of togetherness,” said Aang Andi Karya, 28, a Sunda Wiwitan adherent from Garut.

Kompas/Rony Ariyanto Nugroho

People carry rice and crops at the peak of the Seren Taun 1950 Saka Sunda celebration in Cigugur, Kuningan, West Java, on Thursday (14/9).

This was not empty talk. At the event, no banners bearing corporate logos were to be found. Seren Taun is much too precious to be a corporate-sponsored event. Locals with no harvest yield to be donated usually help organize the event.

Seren Taun is a manifestation of an agrarian community’s gratitude for the blessed harvests they have enjoyed in the past year. The celebration also signifies hope of good harvests in the year ahead. This is reflected from the rituals such as ngajayak (greeting rice seeds) or throwing away pests (instead of killing them) in order to sustain the balance of the natural ecosystem.

This year’s Seren Taun celebration also revealed the often-neglected nature of agrarian society. It is believed that Dewi Sri, the goddess of life and fertility who protects rice fields, never discriminates against human beings when distributing her blessings. There are no religious, racial or ethnic boundaries.

“Life is multicultural here,” said Jojo Anjar, 69. Jojo usually leads prayers at a musholla (small mosque) located just 50 meters from the Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal where Sunda Wiwitan adherents often congregate. Also located within 50 meters of the paseban is a Catholic church. They have all always lived in harmony.

Jojo said different peoples needed to taaruf (get to know one another) and ta’awun (help one another). Such a mindset is inherited through generations in Cigugur.

This diversity is inseparable from the figure of Pangeran Madrais (1832-1939), a progenitor of the Sunda Wiwitan belief. Madrais’ teachings were different from Islamic or Christian teaching. Locals know the faith system as agama Djawa Sundaas it is rife with local wisdom.

Sunda Wiwitan elder Gumirat Barna Alam said that there were currently around 600 Sunda Wiwitan families residing in Kuningan, Ciamis and Bogor, West Java.

In the 1960s, the government banned the proselytizing of the agama Djawa Sunda. Many of its adherents were then converted to Islam or Catholicism. This is why families in Cigugur often comprise people from different beliefs.

The family of Thomas Hendrik, 37, for instance, comprises believers of several religious. Thomas is a Catholic while his father is a Sunda Wiwitan adherent and his mother a Muslim. One of his two older brothers is a Protestant while the other is a Catholic.

“Despite our differences, we respect one another and live together in harmony. Religion is to be adhered to, not to be used to create problems,” he said.

Independent

How, then, can the people of Cigugur live in peace and harmony? Seren Taun pretty much explains this. The peak of the event, in which 2,200 kilograms of unhusked rice is pounded, in line with the number 22 Ragayung, is proof.

Here, people from various ethnicities and religions worked together in pounding the rice. The activity, which was done by women, was preceded by participants shaking one another’s hand and cheek-kissing one another. Some of the participants wore hijabs and some others wore cross pendants. All of them joyfully pounded on the rice together. The rhythmic pounding of the rice blended perfectly with the songs of Jakarta-based punk band Marjinal, who performed in the celebration.

The unhusked rice was gathered from local sources. Local farmers worked together to collect it. On a wood-burning stove, mothers cooked between 5 and 8 kilograms of rice every day for the entire week to be distributed to everyone. Prosperity and independence was clearly evident.

Cigugur statistics highlight this. Based on 2015 data, the village has 45,879 residents and 602 hectares of rice fields that can be harvested three times a year with a total rice production of 11,506 tons. Furthermore, the district has 5,000 dairy cows. Cigugur contributes more than Rp 7 billion to Kuningan’s revenue.

This independence leads to more than just prosperity. Radicalism has no place to grow when the locals hold dear to diversity values. The wisdom of Cigugur people seems to work against West Java’s stigma as a seedbed of intolerance and radicalism.

Kompas/Rony Ariyanto Nugroho

People take turns pounding rice at the peak of the Seren Taun 1950 Saka Sunda celebration in Cigugur, Kuningan, West Java, on Thursday (14/9).

National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) data shows that a majority of the 89 complaints about violations of freedom of religion and beliefs in 2015 were from West Java. The figure was higher even than Jakarta’s (Kompas, 1/7/2016).

Gadjah Mada University post-graduate lecturer Greg Vanderbilt, who was on his first visit to Cigugur to observe the Seren Taun celebration, said that he was impressed by the locals’ spirit of diversity.

“The idiom Bhinneka Tunggal Ika that I often hear comes to life here,” Vanderbilt said.

Sunda Wiwitan elder Pangeran Djatikusumah, 85, who is also Madrais’ grandson, said that locals held firm to the principle of Sanajan sewang-sewangan tapi teu ewang-ewangan. Despite the people’s different religions and beliefs, he said that a collective awareness was needed that everyone belonged to one kinship, nation, homeland and understanding. This is a precious homegrown wisdom that is threatened by the neglect of its own people.

Much like its name Cigugur, which literally means “falling waterfall”, the togetherness of the locals feels calming to the soul.