Tenggerese
Encyclopedia
The Tenggerese are the descendants of the Majapahit princes. Their population of roughly 600,000 is centered in thirty villages in the isolated Tengger mountains (Mount Bromo
) within the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park
in East-Central Java.
Scattered communities of Tenggerese also exist in the Pasuruan
, Probolinggo
, Malang
, and Lumajang
districts of eastern Java. They are traditionally believed to be the descendants of Roro Anteng and Joko Seger.
(Majapahit) dialect called Tengger. Elements of modern Javanese influences can be seen in their speech. They have their own written Kavi script based on the old Javanese Brahmi
type.
as their religion, although they have incorporated many Buddhist and Animist elements. Like the Balinese
, they worship Ida Sang Hyang Widi Wasa (Roughly "Big Almighty Lord") for blessings in addition to other Hindu
and Buddhist gods that include the Tri Murti, namely Shiva
, Brahma
, Vishnu
and Buddha
. Their places of worship include the Punden, Poten and Danyang. The Poten is a sacred area of ground at Mt. Bromo's Sand sea, and becomes the focus of the annual Kasada Ceremony. Within the Poten, it contains several buildings and enclosures, arranged in a specific composition called the Mandalas (Zones).
The Tenggerese also worship a host of spirits (ancestor worship). They include cikal bakal, the spirits of the founders of the village, the roh bahurekso, the village guardian spirits and the roh leluhur, the spirits of the ancestors. Rituals to propitiate these spirits are conducted by special priests. During these rites little doll-like figures representing the spirits are clothed in batik cloth and are presented with food and drink. It is believed that the spirits partake of the essence of these offerings. The Bromo volcano is considered one of the most sacred places. If it erupts, they believe that their god is very angry.
The Tenggerese gave offerings to the gods in different forms. One of these, Sajenan, is presented to the guardian deities by the priest in formal liturgy. For different occasions different sorts of food are offered as Sajenan. For instance, during weddings a cone of rice, Tumpeng Walagara, is offered, and this is considered to be a source of blessing for the couple as well as the whole village. The second sort of food offering, called Suguhan, are those that are offered by ordinary Tengger Hindus to their ancestral spirits. The third type, Tamping, are food offerings to evil spirits so as to ward off bad luck, and typically consist of meat, rice and bananas wrapped up in leaves and placed at places considered inauspicious such as cemeteries, bridges and road intersections.
Their priests are called Dukun or Resi Pujangga, who play a middle role in their religious worship. They are believed to possess spiritual knowledge called Ilmu of the gods and the spirits, which they carefully guard from ordinary Tenggers. Membership of the priesthood is hereditary, and generally passes down from father to son. Each village has only one of these three priests, together with three assistants, namely Legen, Sepuh and Dandan.
However, in the past few decades, due to over-population in Madura
, many Madurese settlers have exploited the Tenggerese land by clearing some of their nature reserves for land and converted 2-3% (up to 10,000 of them) of the Tenggerese to Islam
in the process, particularly those living in the more accessible areas in the lowlands just outside the Tengger range. Because of this Islamic missionary
activity, the remaining Hindu Tenggerese asked the Balinese
Hindus for help by reforming their culture and religion closer to the Balinese. The Indonesian government finally declared the Tengger mountains as the Bromo-Tengger-Semeru national park, and has also declared that any more logging in this area is an illegal act.
Both Muslim
and Christian
missionaries have attempted to convert the Tenggerese. However, the Christians had little success; they only managed to convert a few hundred to Christianity. Even so, due to the negligible number of them, most of them either reverted back to Hinduism
or converted to Islam
. The Tenggerese Muslim
s have a more successful conversion, though they frequently mix original Hindu
-Buddhist ideas and spirits to their Islam and celebrate Tenggerese festivals at the same time.
The main festival of the Tenggerese is the Yadnya Kasada, which lasts about a month. On the fourteenth day of the Kasada, the Tenggerese go to Poten Bromo and ask for blessing from the main deity Hyang Widi Wasa and the God of the Mountain (Mount Semeru) by presenting annual offerings of rice, fruit, vegetables, flowers, livestock and other local produce. They will also see the examination of the medicine men memorizing prayers. The medicine man who passes the exam is chosen to be spiritual leader of Tengger tribe.
The origin of this festival is a legend which dates back to the Majapahit kingdom, during the reign of King Brawijaya, in which the queen of the Kingdom gave birth to a daughter named Roro Anteng, who married Jaka Seger, a young man from the Brahmin caste.
According to the legend, Roro Anteng and Jaka Seger were among many others who fled from the already tattering Majapahit kingdom during the 15th century, when the Islam
ic religion was gaining followers rapidly. The couple later settled in the Tengger mountains and ruled the region jointly under the title Purbawisesa Mangkurat Ing Tengger.
For a few years the Tenggerese people flourished under the leadership of Jaka Seger and Roro Anteng, yet the king and queen were unhappy for they had no children. Desperate, they decided to climb to the top of Mt. Bromo and pray for help. Deeply moved by the couple's depth of his faith, the god of Mt. Bromo assured them of offspring but with the condition that the youngest child be sacrificed in the crater of the volcano. After giving birth to twenty-five children, the time came for Roro Anteng and to fulfil her part of the pledge. Although they were reluctant, they were threatened with catastrophe, forcing them to futfil their pledge and complying the god's wishes, they have no choice but to sacrifice their 25th child, Kesuma, by throwing him into the crater.
Mount Bromo
Mount Bromo , is an active volcano and part of the Tengger massif, in East Java, Indonesia. At it is not the highest peak of the massif, but is the most well known. The massif area is one of the most visited tourist attractions in East Java, Indonesia. The volcano belongs to the Bromo Tengger...
) within the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park
Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park
Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park is located in East Java, Indonesia, to the east of Malang and to the southeast of Surabaya, the capital of East Java. It is the only conservation area in Indonesia that has a sand sea, the Tengger Sand Sea , across which is the caldera of an ancient volcano from...
in East-Central Java.
Scattered communities of Tenggerese also exist in the Pasuruan
Pasuruan
Pasuruan is a city and regency of East Java, Java....
, Probolinggo
Probolinggo
Probolinggo is a city on the north coast of East Java, Indonesia.Like most of northern East Java, the city has a large Madurese population in addition to many ethnically Javanese people...
, Malang
Malang
Malang is the second largest city in East Java province, Indonesia. It has an ancient history dating back to the Mataram Kingdom. The city population at the 2010 Census was 819,708. During the period of Dutch colonization, it was a popular destination for European residents. The city is famous for...
, and Lumajang
Lumajang
Lumajang is the capital of Lumajang Regency...
districts of eastern Java. They are traditionally believed to be the descendants of Roro Anteng and Joko Seger.
Language
The Tenggerese speak an archaic JavaneseJavanese language
Javanese language is the language of the Javanese people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, in Indonesia. In addition, there are also some pockets of Javanese speakers in the northern coast of western Java...
(Majapahit) dialect called Tengger. Elements of modern Javanese influences can be seen in their speech. They have their own written Kavi script based on the old Javanese Brahmi
Brāhmī script
Brāhmī is the modern name given to the oldest members of the Brahmic family of scripts. The best-known Brāhmī inscriptions are the rock-cut edicts of Ashoka in north-central India, dated to the 3rd century BCE. These are traditionally considered to be early known examples of Brāhmī writing...
type.
Religion
The Tenggerese generally profess HinduismHinduism
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 religion, although they have incorporated many Buddhist and Animist elements. Like the Balinese
Balinese people
The Balinese population of 3.0 million live mostly on the island of Bali, making up 89% of the island's population. There are also significant populations on the island of Lombok, and in the eastern-most regions of Java The Balinese population of 3.0 million (1.5% of Indonesia's population) live...
, they worship Ida Sang Hyang Widi Wasa (Roughly "Big Almighty Lord") for blessings in addition to other Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
and Buddhist gods that include the Tri Murti, namely 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...
, 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....
and Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
. Their places of worship include the Punden, Poten and Danyang. The Poten is a sacred area of ground at Mt. Bromo's Sand sea, and becomes the focus of the annual Kasada Ceremony. Within the Poten, it contains several buildings and enclosures, arranged in a specific composition called the Mandalas (Zones).
The Tenggerese also worship a host of spirits (ancestor worship). They include cikal bakal, the spirits of the founders of the village, the roh bahurekso, the village guardian spirits and the roh leluhur, the spirits of the ancestors. Rituals to propitiate these spirits are conducted by special priests. During these rites little doll-like figures representing the spirits are clothed in batik cloth and are presented with food and drink. It is believed that the spirits partake of the essence of these offerings. The Bromo volcano is considered one of the most sacred places. If it erupts, they believe that their god is very angry.
The Tenggerese gave offerings to the gods in different forms. One of these, Sajenan, is presented to the guardian deities by the priest in formal liturgy. For different occasions different sorts of food are offered as Sajenan. For instance, during weddings a cone of rice, Tumpeng Walagara, is offered, and this is considered to be a source of blessing for the couple as well as the whole village. The second sort of food offering, called Suguhan, are those that are offered by ordinary Tengger Hindus to their ancestral spirits. The third type, Tamping, are food offerings to evil spirits so as to ward off bad luck, and typically consist of meat, rice and bananas wrapped up in leaves and placed at places considered inauspicious such as cemeteries, bridges and road intersections.
Their priests are called Dukun or Resi Pujangga, who play a middle role in their religious worship. They are believed to possess spiritual knowledge called Ilmu of the gods and the spirits, which they carefully guard from ordinary Tenggers. Membership of the priesthood is hereditary, and generally passes down from father to son. Each village has only one of these three priests, together with three assistants, namely Legen, Sepuh and Dandan.
However, in the past few decades, due to over-population in Madura
Madura
Madura is an Indonesian island off the northeastern coast of Java. The island comprises an area of approximately 4,250 km². Madura is administered as part of the East Java province. It is separated from Java by the narrow Strait of Madura.-History:...
, many Madurese settlers have exploited the Tenggerese land by clearing some of their nature reserves for land and converted 2-3% (up to 10,000 of them) of the Tenggerese to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
in the process, particularly those living in the more accessible areas in the lowlands just outside the Tengger range. Because of this Islamic missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
activity, the remaining Hindu Tenggerese asked the Balinese
Balinese people
The Balinese population of 3.0 million live mostly on the island of Bali, making up 89% of the island's population. There are also significant populations on the island of Lombok, and in the eastern-most regions of Java The Balinese population of 3.0 million (1.5% of Indonesia's population) live...
Hindus for help by reforming their culture and religion closer to the Balinese. The Indonesian government finally declared the Tengger mountains as the Bromo-Tengger-Semeru national park, and has also declared that any more logging in this area is an illegal act.
Both Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
and Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
missionaries have attempted to convert the Tenggerese. However, the Christians had little success; they only managed to convert a few hundred to Christianity. Even so, due to the negligible number of them, most of them either reverted back to 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...
or converted to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. The Tenggerese Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s have a more successful conversion, though they frequently mix original Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
-Buddhist ideas and spirits to their Islam and celebrate Tenggerese festivals at the same time.
Lifestyle
The Tenggerese are basically either agriculturalists or nomadic herders. The agriculturalists generally live on the lower altitudes, while the nomads live on the higher altitudes, riding on small horses.Festivals
The origin of this festival is a legend which dates back to the Majapahit kingdom, during the reign of King Brawijaya, in which the queen of the Kingdom gave birth to a daughter named Roro Anteng, who married Jaka Seger, a young man from the Brahmin caste.
According to the legend, Roro Anteng and Jaka Seger were among many others who fled from the already tattering Majapahit kingdom during the 15th century, when the Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic religion was gaining followers rapidly. The couple later settled in the Tengger mountains and ruled the region jointly under the title Purbawisesa Mangkurat Ing Tengger.
For a few years the Tenggerese people flourished under the leadership of Jaka Seger and Roro Anteng, yet the king and queen were unhappy for they had no children. Desperate, they decided to climb to the top of Mt. Bromo and pray for help. Deeply moved by the couple's depth of his faith, the god of Mt. Bromo assured them of offspring but with the condition that the youngest child be sacrificed in the crater of the volcano. After giving birth to twenty-five children, the time came for Roro Anteng and to fulfil her part of the pledge. Although they were reluctant, they were threatened with catastrophe, forcing them to futfil their pledge and complying the god's wishes, they have no choice but to sacrifice their 25th child, Kesuma, by throwing him into the crater.
History
Before the 15th century, the past of the Tenggerese was linked with the Majapahit and other kingdoms from the earlier period. According to legend, Jaka Seger and Roro Anteng are the ancestors of the Tenggerese. Since then, the Tenggerese lived in near-complete isolation until recently.See also
- Agama Hindu Dharma
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