Sunda Wiwitan
Encyclopedia
Sunda Wiwitan is a religious belief system of traditional Sundanese
. It venerates the power of nature and the spirit of ancestor
s (animism
and dynamism
).
The followers of this belief system can be found in some villages in western Java, such as Kanekes, Lebak
, Banten
; Ciptagelar Kasepuhan Banten Kidul, Cisolok, Sukabumi; Kampung Naga
; and Cigugur, Kuningan
. In Carita Parahyangan
this faith is called "Jatisunda". Its practitioners assert that Sunda Wiwitan has been part of their way of life since ancient times, before the arrival of Hinduism
and Islam
.
The sacred book of Sunda Wiwitan is called Sanghyang siksakanda ng karesian
, it is a didactic text of religious and moral guidance, rules and lessons. The text is identified as Kropak 630 by National Library of Indonesia. According to a kokolot (elder) of Cikeusik village, the people of Kanekes are not adherents of Hindu or Buddhist faiths; they follow an animistic system of belief that venerates and worships the spirits of ancestors. However, over the course of time Sunda Wiwitan was influenced by and incorporated Hindu, and to some extent, Islamic elements.
Kersa ("The Powerful") or Nu Ngersakeun ("He Who has the Will"). This supreme being is also referred to with several names or divine titles, such as Batara Tunggal ("The One"), Batara Jagat ("Ruler of Universe"), and Batara Seda Niskala ("The Unseen"). Sang Hyang Kersa resides in the highest and the most sacred realm called Buana Nyungcung (Sundanese, lit: "Pointy Realm"). The Hindu gods (Brahma
, Vishnu
, Shiva
, Indra
, Yama
, an so on) are considered subordinates of Sang Hyang Kersa.
According to Sunda Wiwitan ontology
, the universe
consists of three realms:
Between Buana Nyungcung (the peak realm) and Buana Panca Tengah (earth) there are 18 layers of realms arranged in decreasing order of sacredness from top to down. The uppermost of these heavenly realms is called Bumi Suci Alam Padang or according to Kropak 630 (Sanghyang siksakanda ng karesian) called Alam Kahyangan or Mandala Hyang
. This second highest realm is the abode of Nyi Pohaci Sanghyang Asri
and Sunan Ambu.
Sang Hyang Kersa created seven bataras in Sasaka Pusaka Buana (The Sacred Place on Earth). The oldest of these bataras is called Batara Cikal and is considered the ancestor of the Kanekes people. Other bataras ruled various locations in Sunda lands.
Sunda Wiwitan basic and principle concepts based on two things; Cara Ciri Manusia and Cara Ciri Bangsa. These two pinciples are mentioned by Sunda Wiwitan elders, yet are not explicitly mentioned in the Siksa Kanda-ng Karesian, the sacred text of Sunda Wiwitan.
Cara Ciri Manusia comprises the basic elements of human life. It consists of five fundamentals:
The second concept of Cara Ciri Bangsa states that people have universals or similarities in basic human traits, yet express diversity from one individual or community to another. These elements are the source of variety among human beings:
The philosophy and value system emphasizes the internal or spiritual elements of human life, indicating that humans need spiritual guidance and wisdom in their life.
Originally Sunda Wiwitan did not incorporated many taboos or prohibitions. The core rules of conduct consist of just two elements, :
However, to honor sacred places (Kabuyutan, Sasaka Pusaka Buana or Sasaka Domas) and follow certain traditions in rice farming, Sunda Wiwitan elaborated many restrictions and taboos. The most numerous taboos (called Buyut by Kanekes people) are applied to those living within the most sacred place on earth—the people of Baduy Dalam that inhabit Sasaka Pusaka Buana (Sacred Place on Earth).
and kidung dances. These ritual practices can be observed during the rice harvest ceremony and the annual new year festival called Seren Taun
. These customary ceremonies are still performed annually by the more traditional Sundanese communities in Kanekes, Lebak, Banten
; Ciptagelar Kasepuhan Banten Kidul, Cisolok, Sukabumi; Kampung Naga
; and Cigugur, Kuningan
.
Although modern Sundanese people may practice Islam or adhere to other faiths, influences and value systems certain elements of traditional customs, beliefs, and culture of Sunda Wiwitan still survive into the contemporary moment. In terms influence on their social values and cultural mores, Sundanese people have never abandoned traditional Sundanese beliefs.
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...
. It venerates the power of nature and the spirit of ancestor
Ancestor
An ancestor is a parent or the parent of an ancestor ....
s (animism
Animism
Animism refers to the belief that non-human entities are spiritual beings, or at least embody some kind of life-principle....
and dynamism
Dynamism (metaphysics)
Dynamism is a metaphysical concept conceived by Gottfried Leibniz and developed into a full system of cosmology. Dynamism in metaphysical cosmology explains the material world in terms of active, pointlike forces, with no extension but with action at a distance...
).
The followers of this belief system can be found in some villages in western Java, such as Kanekes, Lebak
Lebak Regency
Lebak Regency is a regency of Banten province, Indonesia. It has an area of 3,044.72 km² of 19 districts and 320 villages and an official intercensal estimated population of 1,219,033 in 2007 Rangkasbitung is the capital of the regency...
, 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:...
; Ciptagelar Kasepuhan Banten Kidul, Cisolok, Sukabumi; Kampung Naga
Kampung Naga
Kampung Naga administratively located in the area of Neglasari village, Salawu district, Tasikmalaya, West Java, Indonesia.Kampung Naga is a village which is inhabited by a community in a very strong tradition of holding the remainder ancestors. The differences are visible when compared with other...
; and 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...
. In Carita Parahyangan
Carita Parahyangan
Carita Parahyangan is a text contained in a single manuscript, registered as kropak 406 from the former collection of the Bataviaasch Genootschap voor Kunsten en Wetenschappen , now in the Perpustakaan National in Jakarta...
this faith is called "Jatisunda". Its practitioners assert that Sunda Wiwitan has been part of their way of life since ancient times, before the arrival of 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...
and Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
.
The sacred book of Sunda Wiwitan is called Sanghyang siksakanda ng karesian
Sanghyang Siksakanda ng Karesian
Sanghyang siksakanda ng karesian is a didactic text, providing the reader with all kinds of religious and moralistic rules, prescriptions and lessons. The title means something like “Book of rules for the state of resi ”. This texts is preserved in the National Library in Jakarta and identified as...
, it is a didactic text of religious and moral guidance, rules and lessons. The text is identified as Kropak 630 by National Library of Indonesia. According to a kokolot (elder) of Cikeusik village, the people of Kanekes are not adherents of Hindu or Buddhist faiths; they follow an animistic system of belief that venerates and worships the spirits of ancestors. However, over the course of time Sunda Wiwitan was influenced by and incorporated Hindu, and to some extent, Islamic elements.
Ontology and belief system
The highest spiritual power in Sunda Wiwitan is Sang HyangHyang
Hyang is an unseen spiritual entity that has supernatural power in ancient Indonesian mythology. This spirit can be either divine or ancestral. The reverence for this spiritual entity can be found in Sunda Wiwitan, Kejawen, and Balinese Hinduism. In modern Indonesian this term tends to be...
Kersa ("The Powerful") or Nu Ngersakeun ("He Who has the Will"). This supreme being is also referred to with several names or divine titles, such as Batara Tunggal ("The One"), Batara Jagat ("Ruler of Universe"), and Batara Seda Niskala ("The Unseen"). Sang Hyang Kersa resides in the highest and the most sacred realm called Buana Nyungcung (Sundanese, lit: "Pointy Realm"). The Hindu gods (Brahma
Brahma
Brahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
, Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
, Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
, Indra
Indra
' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
, Yama
Yama
Yama , also known as Yamarāja in India and Nepal, Shinje in Tibet, Yanluowang or simply Yan in China, Yeomla Daewang in South Korea and Enma Dai-Ō in Japan, is the lord of death, in Hinduism and then adopted into Buddhism and then further into Chinese mythology and Japanese mythology. First...
, an so on) are considered subordinates of Sang Hyang Kersa.
According to Sunda Wiwitan ontology
Ontology
Ontology is the philosophical study of the nature of being, existence or reality as such, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations...
, the universe
Universe
The Universe is commonly defined as the totality of everything that exists, including all matter and energy, the planets, stars, galaxies, and the contents of intergalactic space. Definitions and usage vary and similar terms include the cosmos, the world and nature...
consists of three realms:
- Buana Nyungcung ("The Pointy Realm" or "Peak Realm"): the uppermost realm; the abode of the supreme highest Sang Hyang Kersa.
- Buana Panca Tengah ("The Middle World"): earthEarthEarth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, the realm of human beings and animals, with five cardinal directions: east, west, north, south, and center/zenith. - Buana Larang ("The Forbidden World") : hellHellIn many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
, the realm of demonDemoncall - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
s and lowly spirits, the lowermost realm.
Between Buana Nyungcung (the peak realm) and Buana Panca Tengah (earth) there are 18 layers of realms arranged in decreasing order of sacredness from top to down. The uppermost of these heavenly realms is called Bumi Suci Alam Padang or according to Kropak 630 (Sanghyang siksakanda ng karesian) called Alam Kahyangan or Mandala Hyang
Hyang
Hyang is an unseen spiritual entity that has supernatural power in ancient Indonesian mythology. This spirit can be either divine or ancestral. The reverence for this spiritual entity can be found in Sunda Wiwitan, Kejawen, and Balinese Hinduism. In modern Indonesian this term tends to be...
. This second highest realm is the abode of Nyi Pohaci Sanghyang Asri
Dewi Sri
Dewi Sri, or Dewi Shri , Nyai Pohaci Sanghyang Asri is the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese pre-Hindu and pre-Islam era goddess of rice and fertility, still widely worshipped on the islands of Bali and Java...
and Sunan Ambu.
Sang Hyang Kersa created seven bataras in Sasaka Pusaka Buana (The Sacred Place on Earth). The oldest of these bataras is called Batara Cikal and is considered the ancestor of the Kanekes people. Other bataras ruled various locations in Sunda lands.
Value system
The value system of Sunda Wiwitan is based on written and unwritten (internalized) norms. The written norms are rules and taboos that govern the way of life of adherents, while the unwritten norms are internal and individual understandings of the faith.Sunda Wiwitan basic and principle concepts based on two things; Cara Ciri Manusia and Cara Ciri Bangsa. These two pinciples are mentioned by Sunda Wiwitan elders, yet are not explicitly mentioned in the Siksa Kanda-ng Karesian, the sacred text of Sunda Wiwitan.
Cara Ciri Manusia comprises the basic elements of human life. It consists of five fundamentals:
- Welas asih: love and compassion
- Undak usuk: social and family order
- Tata krama: behavior order and rules of conduct, such as politeness and courteousness
- Budi bahasa dan budaya: language and culture
- Wiwaha yudha naradha: "yudha" meaning war or battle, this principle refers to the essential human characteristic to always be wary or suspicious of foreign or unknown influences. This reflects an inherent conservatism and resistance to change in traditional village life. It implies that influences incompatible with tradition must be rejected.
The second concept of Cara Ciri Bangsa states that people have universals or similarities in basic human traits, yet express diversity from one individual or community to another. These elements are the source of variety among human beings:
- Rupa: looks
- Adat: customs and rules
- Bahasa: language
- Aksara: letters
- Budaya: culture
The philosophy and value system emphasizes the internal or spiritual elements of human life, indicating that humans need spiritual guidance and wisdom in their life.
Originally Sunda Wiwitan did not incorporated many taboos or prohibitions. The core rules of conduct consist of just two elements, :
- "Do not do something not to the taste of others" (something that others dislike), and do no harm to others
- "Do not do something to harm yourself"
However, to honor sacred places (Kabuyutan, Sasaka Pusaka Buana or Sasaka Domas) and follow certain traditions in rice farming, Sunda Wiwitan elaborated many restrictions and taboos. The most numerous taboos (called Buyut by Kanekes people) are applied to those living within the most sacred place on earth—the people of Baduy Dalam that inhabit Sasaka Pusaka Buana (Sacred Place on Earth).
Traditions and ceremonies
In Sunda Wiwitan tradition, prayer and ritual is performed through songs and chant of pantun SundaPantun Sunda
Pantun Sunda is a type of Sundanese oral narrative performance interspersed with songs and music played on a kacapi, a kind of zither. A pantun used to be recited during an evening-length performance...
and kidung dances. These ritual practices can be observed during the rice harvest ceremony and the annual new year festival called 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...
. These customary ceremonies are still performed annually by the more traditional Sundanese communities in Kanekes, Lebak, 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:...
; Ciptagelar Kasepuhan Banten Kidul, Cisolok, Sukabumi; Kampung Naga
Kampung Naga
Kampung Naga administratively located in the area of Neglasari village, Salawu district, Tasikmalaya, West Java, Indonesia.Kampung Naga is a village which is inhabited by a community in a very strong tradition of holding the remainder ancestors. The differences are visible when compared with other...
; and 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...
.
Although modern Sundanese people may practice Islam or adhere to other faiths, influences and value systems certain elements of traditional customs, beliefs, and culture of Sunda Wiwitan still survive into the contemporary moment. In terms influence on their social values and cultural mores, Sundanese people have never abandoned traditional Sundanese beliefs.