Entry to the Spiritual Center

A SMALL VILLAGE ON THE SLOPE OF MT. MERAPI

Kala as the Main Deity

A dear friend brought me to Tutup Ngisor. Its people living entirely according to the ancient Javanse beliefs. Cultivating the soul ("kebatinan") is the core of their life. They do that through practising the arts

Gamelan

A real Buddha has no face....

The burial place of the founder of the community. Two Makara's - guardian dragons - above the entrance

Entry to the "chapel"

The Ultimate Deity - it didn't surprise me - is....Kala

Hidden behind the the white cutains

The community tries to live from the land

Many combine artistic work with labour in the gardens

Red chili's for the sambal industry

Impression of the devastation of the eruption of M.Merapi (2008)

The village escaped destruction by a narrow few hundreds meters

The villagers living a minimum existence

The current leader showed me his treasure: a LINK Gunungan

Later he gave me one as sign of his friendship....

On his home altar also the Queen of the South Sees: Roto Kidul. LINK The Yogya Kraton Myth

Part of the activities of the center is to teach children classical Javanese dance. To me it was a surprise to see Muslim children also attending the class. Apparently without any problem at all. I think everybody here feels to be Javanese in the first place. The religion - however important - comes next and not the other way round

Teacher and pupils

The Holy Gunung (Mount) Merapi