Spreading and Nurturing Kindness
The Mapag Uga Tujuh Gunung ceremony symbolizes humanity’s effort to “cleanse” itself from wickedness.
Residents conduct the traditional ceremony of Mapag Uga Seven Mountains in Telaga Warna, Puncak, Bogor, West Java, on Saturday (27/1). The ritual is an expression of gratitude to God for giving nature to humankind, and serves as a reminder to people to continue to take care and preserve it properly.
The Mapag Uga Tujuh Gunung ceremony was over. It symbolizes humanity’s effort to “cleanse” itself from wickedness and to bring forth awareness of mankind’s fragility.
Eling mangka eling…/Eling mangka eling…/Ahung…/Ahung…/Ahung…/
This part of the prayer was recited again and again. It encourages people to continuously remind themselves of the presence of Almighty God. A longer prayer followed that contained pleas for mercy and prosperity for all mankind.
The prayers were recited not only in Sundanese, but also in Balinese and the Batak language. It went on for almost an hour, accompanied with Sundanese music played by a traditional strings-and-percussion orchestra, including rebab (two-string bowed instrument), kacapi (Sundanese zither), karinding (traditional bamboo instrument), rebana (tambourine), gendang (drums), a small bell and angklung.
The prayers are recited alternately in gentle and loud chanting in harmony with the music.
That evening, gaslights were the only source of light in the center of the field where the ceremony was held. All else was dark and cold while the ceremony continued on Lake Telaga Warna’s western shores, to the east of Mt. Pangrango.
This was the ritual prayer in the Mapag Uga Tujuh Gunung ceremony, which was held for two hours on Saturday (27/1/2018) from 10 p.m. to midnight in Bogor. Some 300 people from the Bhakti Nusantara community participated in the ruwat gunung (mountain healing) ritual, coming from Java, Sumatra and Bali.
Ruwat means to heal the mind and the soul from evil and to be aware of the smallness of mankind before the universe and God.
Sunda Wiwitan and Sunda Buhun customs dominated the ceremony, as it was held in Bogor, led by Spiritual leaders and preservationists of the Sundanese culture from a number of local cultural associations and communities.
Ki Gola, Ki Sumantri, Ki Gingin and Ki Engkos led the tarawangsa (ritual prayer).
Ki Sumantri, or Bambang Sumantri, said that the mountain healing ritual held at Mt. Pangrango’s Lake Telaga Warna was the last in a series of activities that had been held on the mountain since June 2017. Six similar rituals were held earlier at Mt. Sodong in Leuwiliang, Gubung Eusing, and Munara in Rumpin, Mt. Pancar in Babakan Madang, Mt. Salak in Tenjolaya and Leuweung Larangan in Caringin.
Mass prayer
Half an hour before the ceremony began, and after a majority of participants had arrived wearing the traditional attire or bearing a shawl of their respective regions, about a dozen core participants prayed together while holding ritual objects.
The prayer was held on the back porch of the Naya Resto. As the thick fog that had penetrated the two-story restaurant dissipated, a view of the surrounding tea plantations and lake emerged.
The fog descended once more as Ki Sumantri started the ceremony. Indonesia, he said in his opening speech, had always been rich with local cultures that were preserved and observed to protect nature and help local communities become prosperous. The participants were then led in reciting the Pancasila and in singing the national anthem, “Indonesia Raya” (Great Indonesia).
Gola Kinara Bargawa, or Ki Gola, opened the ceremony, asking the participants to pray according to their own faiths.
The mass prayer began, with Ki Gola taking turns along with Ki Gingin, Ki Sumantri and Ki Engkos in praying in Wiwitan Sundanese and Buhun Sundanese. Once in a while, participants prayed in their local tongues, their prayers bridged with the Sundanese prayers through the “Eling mangka eling… Ahung…” refrain.
As the prayer finished, there was a ritual sprinkling of water over the participants’ heads and bodies. Some of the participants were Hindu adherents, who finished their prayers with the priest sprinkling holy water.
The mass prayer was the tarawangsa ritual dance. With shawls either on their shoulder or wrapping their waists, participants danced to the music of the traditional instruments. The movements were not varied, but the participants danced with all their hearts. When the ceremony was over, participants enjoyed the prepared meals and beverages together. It was already midnight. The participants then went home with plant seeds and saplings.
Residents conduct the traditional ceremony of Mapag Uga Seven Mountains in Telaga Warna, Puncak, Bogor, West Java, on Saturday (27/1). The ritual is an expression of gratitude to God for giving nature to humankind, and serves as a reminder to people to continue to take care and preserve it properly.
Beginning
After the ceremony, Ki Gola explained that the mountain healing ritual had once existed in many regions, each imbued with each region’s culture. Today, these rituals had lost their popularity because of the spread of foreign cultures.
Ki Gola said that misunderstanding the local cultures led to environmental destruction, with mankind feeling that they were the most perfect creation and so could do as they pleased with nature.
“Therefore, we are trying to revive local cultures, values and wisdom. This mountain healing [ceremony] was held to preserve the value that the mountain and the entire universe are sacred as created by Almighty God. The universe gives us life and helps us fulfill our needs,” said Ki Gola.
Nahdlatul Ulama’s Abdullah Wong, the Indonesian Muslim Arts and Cultures Agency secretary-general, said the ritual ceremony aimed to instill similar values in people according to their own values and traditions. The ceremony was held to remind people of the importance of the environment and to be grateful.
“The ritual uses flowers and incense sticks. These are symbols. People need symbols. These objects are not used to invite supernatural beings, but to symbolize that people need to be kind and to spread kindness throughout the universe,” he explained.
The wide variety of foods and beverages symbolized mankind’s gratitude to the universe and its Creator for giving life.
“The dance symbolizes joy for being given life and the trees are to be planted. Spread and nurture kindness among the universe as a symbol of gratitude towards nature and its Creator,” said Abdullah.
