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Full Text: Anthropos, 102.2007

568 
Berichte und Kommentare 
1) The Creator God, Ranying Hatalla Langit, 
was declared an almighty, most holy, and elevated 
deity. Naturally he was also all-knowing, mysteri 
ous, and everlasting (Baier 2006: 15 f.). He became 
more like the Hindu Trimurti, who is creator and 
simultaneously supporter and destroyer of all life. 
Like Trimurti, Ranying Hatalla Langit penetrates, 
fills, and completes the world and the cosmos and 
is one with them. Jata, the Ngaju deity of water and 
the underworld, was degraded to become a mani 
festation of Ranying Hatalla Langit. All other de- 
was, spirits, spirit-like beings, or “lords in heaven” 
were similarly degraded, either as manifestations 
of the creator or else as angels, prophets, or jinns 
(Baier 2006: 17-19). As far as comparison with 
Islam went, Ranying Hatalla Langit was equal to 
Allah: owing to his everlasting, esoteric perfection; 
no human being can adequately describe him. The 
qualification “all-loving,” with which he was also 
endowed, may have been modelled on Christianity. 
2) A holy book. The Dutch scientist Mallinck- 
rodt and the Swiss theologian Scharer before the 
Second World War proposed that genealogies of 
deities, spirits, spirit-like beings, as well as of an 
cestral spirits and human ancestors were an in 
tegral part of the Ngaju creation myth. The two 
scholars had compiled and interpreted this in ac 
cordance with the recitals of Ngaju ritual specialists 
(Mallinckrodt and Mallinckrodt-Djata 1928; Scha 
rer 1946, 1963). Their creation myth, available in 
print before the colonial phase ended, was that of 
the Kapuas and lower Kahayan area. However, the 
individuals who later promoted Kaharingan as a 
high religion came from the middle reaches of the 
Kahayan. Therefore, in 1973, they readapted the 
existing Middle-Kahayan myth to their own pur 
poses. In 1996, at Palangka Raya, where the final 
version of the myth was formally agreed upon by 
a committee of leaders representing all Kaharingan 
communities, it was printed and made available as 
a holy text entitled “Panaturan. Tamparan Taluh 
Handiai” viz. “The Origins. The Source of All Be 
ing.” If one compares this with earlier versions, 
a number of discrepancies and manipulations be 
come apparent. For instance, the new text, among 
other things, refers to confusion of languages and 
the building of a tower, just as the Koran and the 
Bible have it (Genesis 11), a detail which is entirely 
missing in earlier Ngaju references (,Majelis ... 
1996: 172). 
3) Until the 1970s a building for religious ser 
vices, which were held every week did not exist in 
Central Kalimantan, and this is still so in the far in 
terior, where a “hall” (balai) is built only for burial 
feasts. The first building for regular services (balai 
basarah) 6 was erected in Palangka Raya some 
thirty years ago. Every Thursday evening the com 
munity congregates for a short ritual with recitals 
and sermon, song and collection. The particular 
day of the week, however, for Kaharingan service 
may vary. In Pendreh, close to Muara Teweh on th e 
Barito, the community meets on Friday morning 5 - 
Women take part in meetings and also share ritual 
duties. Other services are performed incidentally 
and on feast days. The Indonesian government sub 
sidizes the erection of a balai basarah. 
4) Regular feast days. The curriculum for sec 
ondary schools recommends three feast days p ef 
year. 7 First, the “agricultural day” after the M a y 
harvest is a thanksgiving feast with rest, cleaning» 
and blessing of agricultural tools. Deified ancestor 5 
are asked during a service to render their blessing 
for the coming season. The second is a “cultnf a 
day,” when the gift of knowledge and culture 15 
credited to Bawi Ayah, a deity similar to Saraswab» 
the Hindu equivalent of Bawi Ayah in Bali- Tb e 
third feast is a day of “general thanksgiving” 
the blessings the community received during b 16 
previous year. Rituals in honour of Pataho, founds 
of communities, are performed at his shrines. C 0lil 
plete rest from work is an important requirerncn ■ 
This practice was also apparently influenced by 
Balinese Nyepi day. 8 * 
In May 1980, when the Kaharingan commnnw 
obtained official recognition by the state goved 1 ^ 
ment, not as Indonesia’s sixth religion but as 
branch of Hinduism, the name Hindu Kaharing 
was formalized. Direction and competence of ^ 
cision were delegated to the Great Council 
the Hindu Kaharingan Religion in Palangka 
A local Hindu Kaharingan academy became an 
ficial educational state institution. Hundreds ot 
ligious teachers are trained there. The state a ^ 
formally subsidizes this teaching via the l ea t 
of the Hindu communities in Bali. So it was 
ahm afl 
until the visit in 2001 of President Abduln 
Wahid in Palangka Raya that money was gi ve ° 
to 
afl ts 
6 Apparently A. Schiller took some unqualified inf° r ar ah> 
to explain the etymology and history of the word # t o 
to conduct a religious worship (2005: 117f.). ^ cC ° X ^ a $af a ' 
these informants the word basarah is derived fr orn . vV jit' 
to litigate. First, Schiller does not notice that basarah t 
ten and in Malayan languages spoken with -h, ^ asar ^ ar a, t0 
out -h\ Secondly, basara is derived from bicara, bic . aref 
talk (Hardeland 1859; Bingan and Ibrahim 1997: 29, 
1946: 11; Wilkinson 1959/1: 135), and bisarah is a W® (li jce 
from the Indonesian root serah, thus menyerahkan 
the Arabic root and meaning of “Islam”). 
7 It is not yet adopted (March 2006). 1964 
8 Lembaga ... 2003 in Baier 2006; 20; Zimmermann 
358. 
Anthropos
	        
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