INDONESIA: Keeper of Indonesia's Mount Merapi performs mystical ritual to calm 'angry' volcano

Record ID: 858827

  • Title: INDONESIA: Keeper of Indonesia's Mount Merapi performs mystical ritual to calm 'angry' volcano
  • Date: 19th May 2006
  • Summary: (W1) KINAHREJO VILLAGE, KALIADEM, SLEMAN, YOGYAKARTA (MAY 19, 2006)(REUTERS) WIDE OF HOUSE MERAPI SPIRITUAL KEEPER, MARIJAN CLOSE UP OF SIGN WIDE SHOT/ CLOSE UP OF MARIJAN WALKING OUTSIDE HIS HOUSE (2 SHOTS) (SOUNDBITE)(Bahasa Indonesia) MARIJAN SAYING: "This is the 'warning' for all of us. Illegal mining of sand with excavator and heavy equipment is hurting Mount Merapi."
  • Embargoed: 3rd June 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Indonesia
  • City:
  • Country: Indonesia
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Environment / Natural World
  • Reuters ID: LVAE9ARWJL2R6JZ9ME9BS3B5HHVH
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: The spiritual keeper of Indonesia's Mount Merapi performed a midnight ritual walk around villages to calm the pesky mountain despite warnings by the vulcanologists that the country's most dangerous volcano could erupt into a massive explosion.
    The 80-year old Maridjan (eds: one name) was assigned by the previous ruler of Yogyakarta which shares the area of the Merapi with Central Java province as keeper of the mountain to look after the safety of villagers and Merapi's surroundings.
    He has defied orders by authorities to leave the mountain insisting the volcano would not endanger thousands of residents living on its slopes.
    "This is a 'warning' for all of us. Illegal mining of sand with escavator and heavy equipment is hurting Mount Merapi" said the jovial Maridjan.
    Named the 'Tapak Bisu' or the "The Silent Walk", the ritual walk around villages in Cangkringan district kicked off after Mardijan, a self-described devout Muslim who never misses the five-time obligatory daily prayer, performed a mass recital of the holy Quran in a nearby mosque.
    Clad in traditional Javanese suit and sarong with matching blade on his back, Maridjan and several other villagers walked in silent through the mountain's mist and cool breeze, under the flashes of cameras and lights from dozens of reporters.
    The ritual kicked off in Kinahrejo, a sleepy village dotted with pine trees lying about 6 km away from Merapi's rumbling peak.
    According to the ritual, Maridjan was required to circle villages three times and after one hour he completed the first round and journalists were ordered to leave the areas.
    Another villager who took part in the ritual said that the ceremony planned after Maridjan received a 'divine inspiration' during his self-exiled mediation in recent days saying Merapi will not give out massive explosion.
    Most Javanese, who make up the bulk of Indonesia's 220 million people, are Muslims but some still cling to an ancient spiritual past.
    Merapi, which means "Mountain of Fire", has been rumbling for weeks and scientists say the mountain -- already on the highest level of danger --could erupt massively at anytime. On Friday (May 19) the clouds in Merapi not as big as before but vulcanologists say the major lava dome that has built up in the current eruption phase has yet to collapse-- the event vulcanologists fear could trigger a major deadly eruption.
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