| Of Mount Merapi And Its Keeper Mbah Maridjan |
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By Mohd Nasir Yusoff
JAKARTA, May 18 (Bernama) -- Almost four weeks have passed since many parties started predicting dates of Mount Merapi's possible eruption.
Despite its days of emitting rumbling sounds, the billowing out of hot ash and gas, and the spewing molten lava having flowed down the dome, the much awaited vertical eruption has yet to occur at the 2,916 metre high volcano.
For all these signs and predictions, only one man seems to be reading the world's most active volcano correctly. And, that too without any scientific aid, except only his basic instinct and the years of spiritual relations he has had with the volcano.
He is none other than Mbah Maridjan, 79, who is aptly appointed by the late Yogyakarta Special Province's Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX as The Keeper of Mount Merapi in 1983 upon the demise of his father, the earlier Keeper in 1982.
Mbah (wise old man or grandfather) Maridjan has been in the limelight for strongly believing his instinct that Mount Merapi would not erupt as yet. And thus, the reason for his refusal to be evacuated together with thousands of other villagers on the dangerous slopes of Merapi.
According to Kompas CyberMedia, Mbah Maridjan, born in 1927 and married to Ponirah, 73, is blessed with 10 children, five of whom are still alive, 11 grandchildren and six great grandchildren, and now lives in Kinahredjo village on the southern slope of Merapi.
He was quoted as saying that being an active volcano it was normal for Mount Merapi, one of the 130 volcanoes in the Pacific Rim of Fire in Indonesia, to rumble at times and to emit from its dome once in a while hot ash and gas known locally as 'wedhus gembel' or shaggy goat (after the form it sometimes takes).
He was quoted by several local newspapers as saying that he would not leave the mountain because as the Keeper he could not be seen as a coward or left for his safety when the safety of others would be his priority.
Mbah Maridjan claimed that he had not received any signs or omens as yet that the mountain was about to unleash its fury even though heat clouds had rolled down the volcano's slopes to distances reaching four kilometres, Antara news agency reported.
True to his words, when thousands of villagers in and around the slopes of Merapi went down the mountain to evacuation centres on safer grounds, it was reported that Mbah Maridjan instead went up to the observation point closest to the volcano's peak, some two kilometres down the dome on Monday.
He spent the whole day there praying to the Almighty to ensure the safety of lives and properties of all the villagers.
And, believe it or not, the volcano's activity slowed down yesterday and the day before, during the overnight visit by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. It was reported that till this afternoon, Mount Merapi appeared calm again and the thousands of villagers have returned to their homes.
As to what was the actual duty of the Keeper of Mount Merapi, not much has been reported and much was surrounded by a sense of mysticism.
However many believed that the Yogyakarta Keraton or Palace would only appoint among its 'Abdi Dalem' or internal servants, the most pious and the most spiritually capable to hold the title of the Keeper.
Among the reported duty of Mbah Maridjan is to lead Upacara Labuhan, sort of an annual prayer ritual at the mountain top every 30th of Rajab month on the Muslim calendar, according to Kompas.
Meanwhile, Malaysian students studying at a pondok in Kerinching Village, Magelang some 30 kilometres away from Mount Merapi, said they knew little about Mbah Maridjan except for what they read in the newspapers lately especially, on his refusal to leave the mountain.
"We read that Mbah Maridjan is trusted with the task of the volcano's Keeper but what that means we do not know for sure," said Fadzli Musa, 29, who hailed from Kampung Pandan, Kuala Lumpur.
"From words of mouth it was said that he was quite extraordinary in the sense that he could communicate spiritually with the volcano but how he did that was beyond our understanding", Fadzli added.
--BERNAMA
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