5.1 Main Elements of CEK
The first element of any CEK is observing nature
or known as ilmu titen in Javanese, it is such a
way as to see patterns of natural dynamics, as
explained below:
It was called ilmu titen (phenology) in the past. In
the old days, our ancestors observed (nature). Oh,
on this date, this happened. And then they develop
a standard, like so. (Martadi, Kebonagung Focus
Group Discussion).
This research used a bottom-up approach,
starting from CEK in the village level, based on
each local community’s respondents. The regional level CEK was explained later, based on the
community respondents commenting on regionwide knowledge, experts, and organization
respondents.
The comparison of the findings of the differences and similarities between these two levels
are summarized in Table 1. The first part of the
table explains the historical experiences as the
root of CEK. At the village level, historical natural dynamics were shared by the sub-cases,
including volcano eruptions, flooding experiences, and lahars, but the severity diminished as
the distance to the volcano increased. Sub-case 1
still experienced pyroclastic flows, lava, and
even fiery hot volcanic rocks in their village
during the 2010 eruption, in addition to the
continuous lahar flow in Gendol River during
every rainy season from 2010 to 2017. Meanwhile, in Sub-case 2, the severity of damage most
dramatically occurred in 2010–2011, when the
lahar topped the Code River dikes and entered
the Riverside community, submerging 1–2 m of
the kampung’s (informal settlement) original
elevation. In Sub-case 3, the severity of damage
did not interfere with the daily life, except for the
lahar sedimentation in the Opak River, which
silted the riverbed and thus made the river shallower. It also interfered with the villagers’
income from tourism as the river could no longer
be used for the Dragon Boat Festival, and the
paddy fields were flooded each rainy season,
especially in 2010–2015. For the regional level,
the results showed that the historical experiences
mentioned by the respondents and secondary
data included (1) natural dynamics of the volcano
eruption, Opak River, and the South Java Sea;
(2) the response, which included temporal
experiences of Mt. Merapi eruptions and the
Javanese seasonal calendar (pranata mangsa),
which explains the changes between the rainy
and dry seasons based on living creatures behaviours, and the conservation of the volcano and
the sea.
The historical experiences were later formulated into five forms of the mechanism of transfer
as follows:
(1) Internalization through myths and rituals
At times, these myths are only known to a microcoverage at hamlet level, for example, the bride
stones in Sub-case 1 about the existence of a
stone constellation consisting of two big stones
as the bride and a third stone as the parent, which
delineates the lahar free zone in the hamlet. It can
also be for mezzo level, a whole village level, for
example, the Patih or Prime Minister Jayaningrat
of Old Hindu Mataram, as the ancestor of the
village. He was killed in a battle, and he cursed
that wherever he will be buried, the lahar from
Mt. Merapi will submerge the area. His tomb is
delineated as the lahar flood zone of the Opak
River. This myth is celebrated in Tambak Kali
Gendol festivities, which is held responsible for
2010 Mt. Merapi eruption taking so many lives
from this village, as they saw it as a symbol of
the village offering human sacrifices to the volcano, by commemorating the “curse of Jayaningrat”, and the festivities have not been held
there since.
In Sub-case 2, this regional-wide myth about
Mt. Merapi as the ancestor and South Java Sea
Queen as ruler of the Spirit Kingdom) is also
known, and also the lampor (the sound of unseen
or mystical troops marching down the river,
which their loud drums), as the sign of the
Queen’s deities’ troops going upstream to Mt.
Merapi as the spirits’ zone. Sub-case 2 also celebrated an annual mezzo level ritual related to the
myth of the River Code as the lampor channel
192
V. Ariyanti et al.
The first element of any CEK is observing nature
or known as ilmu titen in Javanese, it is such a
way as to see patterns of natural dynamics, as
explained below:
It was called ilmu titen (phenology) in the past. In
the old days, our ancestors observed (nature). Oh,
on this date, this happened. And then they develop
a standard, like so. (Martadi, Kebonagung Focus
Group Discussion).
This research used a bottom-up approach,
starting from CEK in the village level, based on
each local community’s respondents. The regional level CEK was explained later, based on the
community respondents commenting on regionwide knowledge, experts, and organization
respondents.
The comparison of the findings of the differences and similarities between these two levels
are summarized in Table 1. The first part of the
table explains the historical experiences as the
root of CEK. At the village level, historical natural dynamics were shared by the sub-cases,
including volcano eruptions, flooding experiences, and lahars, but the severity diminished as
the distance to the volcano increased. Sub-case 1
still experienced pyroclastic flows, lava, and
even fiery hot volcanic rocks in their village
during the 2010 eruption, in addition to the
continuous lahar flow in Gendol River during
every rainy season from 2010 to 2017. Meanwhile, in Sub-case 2, the severity of damage most
dramatically occurred in 2010–2011, when the
lahar topped the Code River dikes and entered
the Riverside community, submerging 1–2 m of
the kampung’s (informal settlement) original
elevation. In Sub-case 3, the severity of damage
did not interfere with the daily life, except for the
lahar sedimentation in the Opak River, which
silted the riverbed and thus made the river shallower. It also interfered with the villagers’
income from tourism as the river could no longer
be used for the Dragon Boat Festival, and the
paddy fields were flooded each rainy season,
especially in 2010–2015. For the regional level,
the results showed that the historical experiences
mentioned by the respondents and secondary
data included (1) natural dynamics of the volcano
eruption, Opak River, and the South Java Sea;
(2) the response, which included temporal
experiences of Mt. Merapi eruptions and the
Javanese seasonal calendar (pranata mangsa),
which explains the changes between the rainy
and dry seasons based on living creatures behaviours, and the conservation of the volcano and
the sea.
The historical experiences were later formulated into five forms of the mechanism of transfer
as follows:
(1) Internalization through myths and rituals
At times, these myths are only known to a microcoverage at hamlet level, for example, the bride
stones in Sub-case 1 about the existence of a
stone constellation consisting of two big stones
as the bride and a third stone as the parent, which
delineates the lahar free zone in the hamlet. It can
also be for mezzo level, a whole village level, for
example, the Patih or Prime Minister Jayaningrat
of Old Hindu Mataram, as the ancestor of the
village. He was killed in a battle, and he cursed
that wherever he will be buried, the lahar from
Mt. Merapi will submerge the area. His tomb is
delineated as the lahar flood zone of the Opak
River. This myth is celebrated in Tambak Kali
Gendol festivities, which is held responsible for
2010 Mt. Merapi eruption taking so many lives
from this village, as they saw it as a symbol of
the village offering human sacrifices to the volcano, by commemorating the “curse of Jayaningrat”, and the festivities have not been held
there since.
In Sub-case 2, this regional-wide myth about
Mt. Merapi as the ancestor and South Java Sea
Queen as ruler of the Spirit Kingdom) is also
known, and also the lampor (the sound of unseen
or mystical troops marching down the river,
which their loud drums), as the sign of the
Queen’s deities’ troops going upstream to Mt.
Merapi as the spirits’ zone. Sub-case 2 also celebrated an annual mezzo level ritual related to the
myth of the River Code as the lampor channel
192
V. Ariyanti et al.