JAKARTA, Indonesia
Javanese Muslims welcome Ramadan in a variety of different ways, some visiting the graves of their predecessors, cleaning the environment or cooking and praying, while others drain local springs to thank the lord Allah for water.
This weekend, Javanese flocked from all corners of Indonesia to visit graveyards and rivers to kick off the holy month. The tradition, which is called Nyadran, can be done individually or collectively.
Andini – many Indonesians use only one name - told The Anadolu Agency on Sunday that she had traveled eight hours by train to Central Java’s Semarang for Nyadran at her mother's grave.
"I always take the pilgrimage to her grave, no matter how busy I am," the mother of two - who lives in the capital Jakarta - told AA.
As she prayed and cleared the grass and weeds from the soil she said it gave her tremendous relief and happiness to do it - "although only once a year."
Two days before Ramadan, villagers in the Semarang subdistrict of Pudakpayung prepare for Nyadran by visiting a spring named Sendang Gede, which the Javanese have considered sacred for thousands of years.
Each village has a special place for Nyadran, be it the sea, the village cemetery or another water source.
Before draining a pond that collects from Sendang Gede, the local people place offerings – rice, side dishes, flowers and cigarettes - nearby in honor of an ancestral village named Nyai Tyeme. Meanwhile, a village elder - believed to be the connection between past and present - reads a prayer for the cleaning ritual to run smoothly.
Hundreds of community members, "most" of whom have bathed beforehand, then drain the spring until it is clean. Although some are less than enthusiastic about the murky water, children jumping in to search for the occasional marooned fish enliven the atmosphere.
Pudakpayung elder Kemo told AA that the ritual has been passed down through generations.
"Nyadran has become a tradition of respect for the ancestors who were the forebears of life in Pudakpayung," he said.
Residents also bring food, slaughtering hundreds of chickens on which they will feast after the draining, which also encourages protection of the environment.
"This annual ceremony is an expression of thanks to the Lord for the very useful water source," elder Kemo added, highlighting that the spring is used daily by the villagers for clean water, bathing, and washing clothes.
For the Javanese, water that comes from a spring or stream is sacred as it symbolizes life.
They believe that not only did it help form the universe; it can also cure a variety of ailments when given after prayer.
