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Serat Centhini is a twelve-volume compilation of Javanese tales and teachings, written in verse and published in 1814. The work was commissioned, directed, and partially written by Crown Prince Mangkunegoro, later enthroned as Pakubuwono V of Surakarta, with contributions from three court poets from different palaces. [1] [2]
The events depicted in Serat Centhini take place in the 1630s when Sultan Agung of Mataram's army besieged and captured the city of Giri Kedaton in Gresik, East Java.
Giri Kedaton had a religious school that was founded by Sunan Giri, one of the Wali Sanga. The school grew and became famous as a center of Muslim teaching, which gave it political influence in the surrounding region. It attracted learners from multiple societal groups and regions as far away as Ternate Sultanate.
Giri Kedaton reached the peak of its influence under Sunan Giri Prapen who ruled it from 1548 to 1605. Sultan Agung of the larger Mataram Sultanate regarded this as a threat, so in 1630 he sent an army under his brother-in-law, Pangeran Pekik to capture Giri Kedaton. Giri Kedaton finally surrendered in 1636. Sunan Giri Prapen was captured and brought to Mataram's capital Kota Gede, known today as Yogyakarta.
The main characters of Serat Centhini are Sunan Giri Prapen's three young children who escape Giri Kedaton overnight, hours before the city falls to the army from Mataram. The children become separated in the confusion as inhabitants flee the city. They each spend several years wandering around Java, only to be reunited many years later.
The main characters of the story are:
The Centhini story is separated by phases of its characters' lives (pre-adulthood, adulthood, and post-adulthood) and by the adventures of each character (Jayengresmi, Jayengsari, Rancangkapti, and Mas Cabolang).
In the pre-adulthood journey, geographic locations still can be identified on the real-world map. But in the post-adulthood journeys, the locations become mystical and imaginary, as though in a different realm. The mixture of real-world and imaginary locations is similar to that of Homer's Odyssey.
As adults, the characters changed their names to avoid capture by Sultan Agung's spies.
After fleeing the conquered city the oldest son, Jayengresmi wanders in the southern part of Java and then to its westernmost part. The second son, Jayengsari, and his sister, Rancangkapti, flee to the east, later travelling by ship to central Java.
Journey of Jayengresmi
Jayengresmi's travels take him and his servants Gathak and Gathuk through the mountainous terrain where hermits live. Their journey passes through historic areas including:
Journey of Jayengsari and Rancangkapti
Jayengsari and Rancangkapti are accompanied by their servant Buras. They visit the sites of old Javanese kingdoms and learn legends.
Journey of Mas Cabolang
Mas Cabolang is the son of Ki Ageng/Seh Akadiyat, the hermit of Sokoyoso Hermitage in Dieng Plateau. He left his parents' house without asking their permission. His objective is to have his adventure to understand more of the world. His journey began on the southwest route to Cilacap Region and then turned to the east, through Mataram Sultanate's capital (Kota Gede), and moved to the eastern part of Java Island before finally going back to Sokoyoso.
Journey of Jayengresmi (Ki Amongrogo)
Jayengresmi already stayed for a few years in Karang Hermitage with his adopted father, Kyai Ageng Karang until finally, he asked for permission to leave and to continue searching for his brother and sisters. Before letting them leave his hermitage, his adopted father suggests they change their names: Jayengresmi became Ki Amongrogo, and Gathak and Gathuk became Jamal and Jamil.
Journey of Jayengresmi, Jayengrogo and Kulowiryo
Fourteen months had passed since Seh Amongrogo left his father in-law (Ki Bayi) and his wife (Nyi Tembangraras). Finally came a decisive moment when Ki Bayi's brothers (Ki Jayengresmi and Ki Jayengrogo) and their uncle (Ki Kulowiryo) determined to look for and to catch up with Amongrogo. They departed, accompanied by Kulowiryo's attendant, Nuripin. Within their journey, they passed several villages, hermitages and caves. Ki Jayengrogo and Ki Kulowiryo are the morally loose characters as they did a lot of debauchery with the villagers, widowers and ronggeng dancers. Their carelessness sometimes brought them misfortune such as the loss of their possession. Ki Jayengresmi, being the only religious character among the group, always avoid the debauchery while patiently preach his brother and uncle. Nuripin is a character who is always bullied (yet always manage to escape and throw honest mockery on Kulowiryo's debauchery and his misfortune) by Kuliwiryo. The group only have a short distance of journey and they went back to Wonomarto empty handed and only received clues from all the hermits they met, that they would meet Amongrogo later on in a place called Wonontoko. Soon afterwards, santri Luci, who previously met Amongrogo, arrived at Wonomarto. Ki Luci told Ki Bayi and his family the summary of Amongrogo's journey and his whereabout. Within Amongrogo's journey, he kept having a vision of a lotus, which means, his search for the perfection of life would only be gained through Sultan Agung's help. Amongrogo tried to catch up with Sultan Agung by visiting his meditational places. But Sultan always leave just when Amongrogo arrives. Amongorogo then has to attract his attention by building a grand mosque at Kanigoro and performing magic show which gathered thousands of followers. The magical shows which drew thousands of followers finally was being noticed Sultan Agung. He concluded that such activity was breaking Islamic law and therefore he sentenced Amongorogo for death penalty by drowning him to an ocean. Amongrogo was being executed. The death penalty is actually what Amongrogo's looking for from Sultan Agung. As by went through death, he wasn't really dead, he only moved to another realm (reverse realm/incorporeal world/jagad walikan in javanese). Therefore, right on entering incorporeal world, he thanked Sultan Agung instead.
The debauchery scenes of this section is what makes Serat Centhini famous of its porn contents which unfortunately often overshadow the other knowledge being elaborated.
Nyi Selobrangti and Cethi Centhini Reunite
Soon after receiving bad news about his husband, Nyi Tembangraras determined to find his husband herself. She changed her name to Nyi Selobrangti and accompanied by her faithful maid, Centhini. Both of them arrived at Wonontoko and accidentally met Ki Amongrogo's long time separated brother and sister, Ki Mangunkarso/Jayengsari and Nyi Rancangkapti. Soon after the surprising reunion, Nyi Selobrangti told them the bad news about Ki Amongrogo's death. The news shocked them and all of them fainted and died. Ki Amongrogo, in his realm, noticed the unfortunate event. He visited Wonontoko and revived everyone. The horrible scene now become a happy ending for the brother and sister and the wife. The couple finally reunited and later on built a hermitage but in the reverse realm.incorporeal world. At this point Ki Bayi's brothers, Jayengresmi and Jayengrogo, left Wonomarto once again to find their niece, Nyi Tembangraras/Selobrangti and Centhini. In the middle of their journey, they received a message from Ki Montel (Amongrogo's attendant) that Tembangraras had met her husband and that they had lived together in Wonontoko in a specific place called Jurang-Jangkung. Jayengrogo and Jayengresmi delighted to hear the news. They decided to meditate at Ardipolo hermitage while Ki Montel delivered the good news to Ki Bayi and his wife.
A Reunion of Ki Bayu and his wife with their daughter Nyi Tembangraras and Seh Amongrogo
Ki Bayi and his wife, Nyi Malaresmi, were eager to meet their daughter therefore they set forth to Wonontoko. By the end of the journey they met Ki Mangukarso (Amongrogo's brother) who told them that they would be able to meet Tembangraras and Amongrogo only in incorporeal world and through a meditation at jurang-jangkung. They went to Jurang-Jangkung and meditate. On the third night, they finally met Seh Amongorogo and Nyi Tembangraras in the incorporeal world. The short reunion however had to come to an end. Ki Bayi and his wife returned to Wonomarto, this time, with a happy and content feeling.
The Island of Black Marble
Seh Amongrogo and Nyi Tembangraras, within their incorporeal world, made a journey to Banten, West Java. They arrived at a dreadful beach therefore he changed it into a tranquil one. He then built an island made of black marble, filled it with precious stones, built a house and stayed there with his wife. It wasn't long before the news of an island of black marble reached a powerful man from Sumatra Island, Ki Datuk. He confronted Seh Amongrogo by put him into test. If indeed Amongrogo is a generous figure, he won't say no to whatever Ki Datuk is asking, even asking for his wife. To Ki Datuk's surprise, Amongrogo gave away his wife. Tembangraras and Ki Datuk's ship was ready on sail returning to Sumatra but in the middle of the ocean, the weather became fierce and the ship sank. Ki Datuk and his sailors was being rescued and they arrived back home empty handed. Meanwhile, Nyi Tembangraras was being pickekup by Seh Amongrogo and they return to Wonontoko, leaving the Black Marble Island and its beach to its original dreadful state.
The Wonder Maggots and the End of Seh Amongrogo and Nyi Tembangraras' Life Journey
Serat Centhini ends with a famous story of wonder maggots. Seh amongrogo and Nyi Tembangraras wished to go back to the real world in order to put discipline to the people and that it can be done through Sultan Agung's lineage. In the meantime, Sultan Agung, in his old age, had become a priest namely Priest Anyokrokusumo. Seh Amongrogo and Nyi Tembangraras met him through incorporeal world and the three of them agreed to make an arrangement. The deal was, Seh Amongrogo and Nyo Tembangraras were changed into wonder male and female maggots. The female maggots was eaten by Sultan Agung, while the female maggot was eaten by Pangeran Pekik (Sultan Agung's brother-in-law). Later on, the son of Sultan Agung (the reincarnation of Seh Amongrogo) would marry Pangeran Pekik's daughter (as reincarnation of Nyi Tembangraras) and they would have a son who would become the King of Mataram, namely Amangkurat. In his reign, Amangkurat didn't please his people because of the discipline being applied. One prince, Raden Trunojoyo, rebelled against him, on behalf of Amangkurat's son. Amangkurat was then being exiled to a place which has a fragrant soil (Tegalarum). This means that Seh Amongrogo and Nyi Tembangraras had arrived at the end of their lives' journey, from their birth to their death.
Colonial time
Modernity and science that were being brought by the Europeans created a paradigm shift in the kind of knowledge and the way to attain knowledge within Javanese society. The concept of 'time is money' was being introduced in which Javanese society have to adjust to a new regular working culture in contrast to the regularity of an agricultural work. Schools in new institutions in new towns were being introduced to public via Colonial Ethical Policy in contrast with the way ancient schools was being conducted through hermitages or in exclusive royal/palace circles. The kind of knowledge is also shifting from heavily mysticism knowledge to heavily rational kind of knowledge. In Shiva-Hindu Catur Asrama, wanderers are part of the way of life and to attain knowledge. In the colonial period the wanderers become unwanted people in new town such as Batavia. The wanderers often evolve into independent rebels or local heroes such as being popularized by The Legend of Si Pitung or Prince Diponegoro's guerrilla volunteers from Bagelen. During the independence war, the rebels play a bigger role in the guerrilla movement.
Post Independence
Javanese knowledge remains in the form of traditions that are being passed down through generations. Especially in the area of philosophy, traditional medicine, wedding procession and religion.
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