The Kasepuhan or Kasepuhan Banten Kidul are a traditional community of approximately 5,300 people, who live in the southern part of Gunung Halimun National Park, in the Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

n province of West Java

West Java

West Java , with a population of over 43 million, is the most populous and most densely populated province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, it is slightly smaller in area than densely populated Taiwan, but with nearly double the population...

. Gunung Halimun National Park is located within the borders of kabupaten Sukabumi

Sukabumi

Sukabumi is a city surrounded by the regency of the same name in the highlands of West Java, Indonesia, about south of the national capital, Jakarta....

, Bogor

Bogor

Bogor is a city on the island of Java in the West Java province of Indonesia. The city is located in the center of the Bogor Regency , 60 kilometers south of the Indonesian capital Jakarta...

 and southern Banten

Banten

Banten is a province of Indonesia in Java. Formerly part of the Province of West Java, it was made a separate province in 2000.The administrative center is Serang. Preliminary results from the 2010 census counted some 10.6 million people.-Geography:...

. The Kasepuhan is called "Kasepuhan Banten Kidul" (Kasepuhan of Southern Banten), their main village is Ciptagelar where Abah Anom, the community leader resides.

Etymology

The word kasepuhan is formed on sepuh, which means "old" in the Sundanese language

Sundanese language

Sundanese is the language of about 27 million people from the western third of Java or about 15% of the Indonesian population....

. It refers to a way of living based on ancestral traditions and eventually, to the local community who lives according to these traditions.

History and tradition

According to oral information, the Kasepuhan have lived in this area for about 570 years. Around the year 1430, the ancestors of the Kasepuhan were still living in the area of Bogor, east of Gunung Halimun. At that time, their ancestors was the people of Pajajaran kingdom that encompassed the province of West Java and Banten.

The people of the Pajajaran also followed Hinduism

Hinduism

Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...

 as their main religion, but combined this with animism

Animism

Animism refers to the belief that non-human entities are spiritual beings, or at least embody some kind of life-principle....

 and Sundanese traditions. The people of the Kasepuhan claim they are genetically linked with the Baduy, which is another traditional group in West Java. The main belief system of Kasepuhan people is Sunda Wiwitan

Sunda Wiwitan

Sunda Wiwitan is a religious belief system of traditional Sundanese. It venerates the power of nature and the spirit of ancestors ....

. Nowadays, the Kasepuhan are influenced by Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

, but they do not strictly follow all rules of this religion. Just as their ancestors, they have combined several traditions and religions with their own Kasepuhan tradition; that is, they are influenced by Islam, Sundanese traditions, Pajajaran traditions and thus Hinduism, and also animism.

The main ritual of Kasepuhan community is "Seren Taun

Seren Taun

Seren Taun is an annual traditional Sundanese rice harvest festival and ceremony. This festivals originally held to mark the new agriculture year in Sundanese ancient calendar as well as thanks giving for the blessings of the abundance rice harvest, and also to pray for the next successful harvest...

", or rice harvest thanks giving as well as marking the new agriculture year in Sundanese

Sundanese people

The Sundanese are an ethnic group native to the western part of the Indonesian island of Java. They number approximately 31 million, and are the second most populous of all the nation's ethncities. The Sundanese are predominantly Muslim...

 tradition. Seren Taun festival also celebrated by other Sundanese traditional communities in other areas, such as; Sindang Barang, Pasir Eurih village, Taman Sari, Bogor

Bogor

Bogor is a city on the island of Java in the West Java province of Indonesia. The city is located in the center of the Bogor Regency , 60 kilometers south of the Indonesian capital Jakarta...

; and the traditional Sundanese community in Cigugur Kuningan

Kuningan

Kuningan is a city in eastern West Java, Indonesia, between Cirebon and Tasikmalaya, about 200 km east of Jakarta. The area is near Mount Cereme/Ciremai , the highest mountain in West Java. The mountain is located in the western part of the region. The eastern part is a valley...

.

By far the most important way of subsistence for the Kasepuhan is agriculture, which can split into three categories: sawah (wet rice cultivation), ladang (dry rice cultivation), and kebun (gardens on horizontal fields). About 85% of Kasepuhan agricultural land is sawah, 10% consists of ladang, and 5% kebun.