‘Mondosiyo’: A ritual of victory over cruelty

Members of the Javanese community who embrace philosophy or mysticism are accustomed to hearing their character described according to the wuku, the seven-day period constituting the 210-day Javanese calendar. The 14th wuku in this system is called Mondosiyo.

The Javanese believe wuku, which have different names like Sinta, Julungwangi, Dhukut, play an important role in shaping human behavior. Those born under Mondosiyo, for instance, are supposed to be more inclined to help people in trouble.

Some Javanese are convinced Mondosiyo has an auspicious influence on public life, and thus deem it necessary to celebrate it. The people in the hamlet of Pancot, on the slopes of Mt. Lawu near Surakarta, is one such community.

Locals welcome the arrival of Mondosiyo with the tradition of resik desa or village cleanup. This ritual

is held every 210 days, on Tuesday kliwon (the 5th day of the Javanese five-day week).

This centuries-old tradition in Pancot is derived from the myth of Prabu Baka, a cruel king who oppressed and robbed locals of their wealth while also eating them to increase his supernatural powers.

Putut Tetuko, a knight from Pringgondani hermitage (later known as Eyang Kancanegara) finally killed the king.

As narrated by hamlet elders, the name Pancot originates from a fight between Prabu Baka and Putut Tetuko, where the knight placated the king to the ground (pancot in the local tongue). The king’s head hit a stone called Batu Gilang. Later, garlic grew out of his canines that fell into the soil, and shallots grew from his molars. Both plants are Pancot’s main crops today.

Prabu Baka made a dying wish to have the arrival of this wuku period, Mondosiyo, marked with a village cleanup ritual, with offerings presented in sacred places such as Punden Bale Pathokan (fight scene), Batu Gilang and Kancanegara’s Pringgodani hermitage in Pancot. The core ritual now takes place in Bale Pathokan, where Batu Gilang is kept and revered.

The liberation of the Pancot people from the arbitrary rule of Prabu Baka has been observed ever since, in the hamlet’s Mondosiyo ritual.

This ritual recently began on Sunday pon (the 3rd day of the five-day week). Two days before the peak of Mondosiyo, Pancot villagers gathered rice to cook a gandhik (a kind of food) as an offering, as well as a goat and dozens of free-range chickens as main dishes.

The next morning, Monday wage (the 4th day of the five-day week), all the offerings were taken to the houses of communal elders for around-the-clock prayers.

On Monday evening, several village members visited sacred places striking small gongs, notifying the public to join Mondosiyo rituals the following morning.

The peak of the ritual began on Tuesday at 7 a.m. Community elders and hamlet figures took the goat and chickens to Bale Pathokan to be slaughtered. A Reog (tiger-mask dance) parade followed, with thousands of villagers packing the paths leading to the site of Prabu Baka. At this site, elders bathed Batu Gilang with the water of fermented cassava, believed to ward off the wrath of the malicious king.

The ceremony reached a climax when the crowd scrambled to catch dozens of chickens that were set free. Local residents believe the Mondosiyo chickens bring fortune and safety to those capable of catching them. Not surprisingly, this spectacle has become focal point of the ritual.

According to Pancot hamlet chief Sulardiyanto, the chickens are released by people who had vowed to do so.

“They represent the gratefulness of some residents. They believe their requests made before Batu Gilang will be fulfilled. If their wishes are to be granted, they are obliged to free chickens to keep their vows,” he said.

Sulardiyanto added the ritual was also meant to serve as a form of reverence and appreciation for the community’s ancestors. Through Mondosiyo, locals commemorate the victory of their forefathers over the evil Prabu Baka.

On the evening before the main event, residents gather for prayers to present the offerings and beg to God Almighty for safety and prosperity.

“The village cleanup as part of Mondosiyo also signifies introspection for self-purification of all negative elements,” Sulardiyanto said.

Mondosiyo is not just a community festival. Through the tradition marked every seven month, the local community fosters an atmosphere of harmony and peace. Reverence for village ancestors is believed to have encouraged social harmony in the community.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/07/02/%E2%80%98mondosiyo%E2%80%99-a-ritual-victory-over-cruelty.html

Solace found in temple festival

His real name is I Kadek Astika, but the 31 year old prefers to be called Kadek Dewi, a feminine name.

 Last Sunday, Kadek and thousands of Hindus attended Bale Paselang, a major religious festival at Sibetan’s largest temple, Pura Pasar Agung.

Because the temple lies atop a small hill, the crowd had to navigate along a muddy, narrow road  blanketed with cold mist.

Having waited for years for that festival — the last one was held 32 years ago, Kadek trekked along the path with burning enthusiasm.

He wore a traditional Balinese male costume, including udeng headgear, light make up, and his nails were painted glossy orange.

During the main ritual, Kadek was assigned to Bale Paselang, a six-pillar pavilion in the temple’s inner sanctum, and the main focus of the temple festival. There, he assisted High Priestess Ida Pedanda Istri Karang in preparing the offerings and the ritual paraphernalia.

“Finally I could contribute my energy and time to this religious festival. The fact that I was tasked with assisting the officiating high priest has clearly improved my social standing as a transgender,” he said.

His main task, and the one he was most proud of, involved  decorating and dressing up the three statues inside the pavilion. Those statues represented the physical manifestations of the visiting gods. One was clearly a statue of a god, and the other one of a goddess. The most interesting statue was the third one, that of a god dressed in a woman’s costume. The statue also wore make-up.

For Kadek, the third statue was some sort of divine confirmation that transgenders have a place in the divine arrangement of the universe.

“I first found out about the existence of this ‘transgender’ deity two years ago when I visited the High Priestess’ house to learn about offerings,” he recalled.

Prior to the commencement of the temple festival, Kadek often visited the High Priestess’ house and spent time helping the local women make offerings for Bale Paselang. This had won him many friends and support.

“The essence of the Bale Paselang temple festival is love. It is also held to commemorate the time when the gods descended upon this earth to help mankind,” High Priestess Ida Pedanda Istri Karang said.

A noted Hindu scholar and executive member of the Hindu council, I Ketut Wiana, attended the ritual and believed the age-old festival offered important contemporary value.

“It is about gender equality and mainstreaming, about a harmonious and equal relationship between man and woman,” he said.

Wiana pointed out the third statue as the local interpretation of Ardhanariswara, an ultimate form of Lord Siwa, half god and half goddess.

Then he gazed at a sheet of white cloth that bore the images of  Semara and Ratih hung in the Bale Paselang. In Balinese Hinduism, not one, but two divine beings are responsible for love and the spreading of love: the immortal couple of Semara and Ratih.

One of the highlights of the Bale Paselang festival was Majejiwa, during which a group of adherents performed a ritual enacting the dialogue between Semara and Ratih.

“All those symbols, offerings and ritual movements send us a clear message that man and woman complement each other and that only through an equal and mutually beneficial cooperation will they be able to achieve their objectives,” Wiana added.

Toward the end of the ritual, Kadek regretted not having brought a camera to record the festival.

“I want to document this festival and later on share pictures and the meaning [of this festival] with my transgender friends. A large number of transgenders in Bali are still hiding their gender orientation from their families,” he said.

Kadek once worked for GAYa Dewata, an NGO focusing on advocacy work targeting gay, lesbian and transgender communities in Bali. Now, he works for a government-run regional body for women and children’s protection in Karangasem.

The Bale Paselang temple festival was a revelation for Kadek.

“I never asked for this male physique. I know that in my soul, I am a woman,” he said.

A Sibetan farmer, I Ketut Patra, eloquently defined Kadek Astika/Dewi’s existence in the following way:

“There is day and there is night. Kadek is the twilight, and we all have to live with day, night and twilight on each and every single day of our existence.”

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/08/26/solace-found-temple-festival.html