RELIGIOUS PRACTICE PERFORMED BY THE HINDUS AT SENDURO VILLAGE, LUMAJANG, EAST JAVA I Ketut Gede Harsana I Gde Parimartha I Wayan Ardika I Made Suastika Udayana University email: gedeharsana@yahoo.com ABSTRACT The religious practice performed by the Hindus at Senduro Village cannot be separated from the context of the relationship between the dominant culture of the Bali Hindus and the subculture of the Hindus at Senduro Village. The Bali Hindus who are stronger culturally, economically and symbolically affect the religious practice performed by the Hindus at Senduro Village in regard to their tatwa (philosophy), acara (ritual) and organization. The problems formulated in this article are as follows: the forms, the contributing factors, and the meaning of the religious practice performed by the Hindus at Senduro Village. The qualitative method was used to obtain the data needed in the present study. The theories used are the theory of practice, the theory of subaltern, the theory of semiotics, and the theory of identity. Before the temple was constructed the Hindus at Senduro Village was classified as the followers of what is referred to as Kejawen. The reason was that their religious practice was highly specific and different from the religious practices performed by the Hindus in the other areas. After the Mandara Giri Semeru Agung Temple was constructed, the Hindus at Senduro Village were affected by the Balinese in the way in which they perform their religious practice. Such an impact could be observed from the aspect of their tattwa (philosophy), the aspect of their religious ritual, and the aspect of their religious organization. Keywords: religious practice, Hindus. INTRODUCTION The religious practice which was performed by the Hindus at Senduro Village is identical with the religious practice which is performed by the Majapahit Hindus. The strong pressure from the bureaucrat and the majority caused the Hindus at Senduro Village to perform their religious practice secretly. It turned out that the Balinese Hindus who visited the village caused the religious practice performed the Hindus at Senduro Village to change. They performed their religious practice openly instead of secretly. In addition, the tradition of the Bali Hindus was seen to dominate the religious practice performed by the Hindus at Senduro Village. After the Mandara Giri Semeru Agung Temple was constructed, the religious practice performed by the Bali Hindus seemed to be more dominant in the religious practice performed by the Hindus at Senduru Village. Based on the background above, this present study is intended to explore the religious practice performed by the Hindus at Senduro Village from the perspective of cultural studies; therefore, the title of the article is “Praktik Keagamaan Umat Hindu di Desa Senduro, Lumajang, Jawa Timur” [The Religious Practice Performed by the Hindus at Senduro Village, Lumajang, East Java” . RESEARCH METHOD Qualitative method is used in the present study. The reason is that the present study is intended to see the existence of the Hindus with their various obstructions and challenges at Senduro Village. The main instrument in the present study was the researcher himself. The data were obtained from interviews and field notes. The qualitative data were supported with the quantitative data. RESULT AND DISCUSSION Before the Mandara Giri Semeru Agung Temple was constructed, the Hindus at Senduro Village had believed in God. However, in accordance with their belief, the name used to refer to God is different from the name used by the Bali Hindus to refer to God. One of the Hindu leaders at Senduro Village through an interview stated as follows. “Kami merupakan kelompok umat Hindu yang merupakan turunan Hindu Majapahit,dalam penyebutan nama-namaTuhan kami mempunyai sebutan nama Tuhan tersendiri, seperti Gusti Kang Akarya Jagat Saisine yang artinya Tuhan yang menciptakan dunia beserta isinya dan Gusti Kang Maha Wikan yang artinya Tuhan Maha Tahu” (Djumadi Wawancara, 25 Maret 2013) [“We are Hindus coming from the Majapahit Hindus. We use several names to refer to God. They are Gusti Kang Akarya Jagat Saisine, meaning God who has created the world and what it contains, and Gusti Kang Maha Wikan, meaning “God Who Knows Everything”] (Djumadi, interviewed on 25 March 2013). Based on the information obtained from the interview, it can be concluded that every area in Indonesia also has different names which are used to refer to God. It is not necessary to make the names used to refer to God uniform. The knowledge and symbolic capitals the Hindus at Senduro Village have for referring to God with different names are the identity as the followers of the Jowo Sanyto Hinduism. The offering, which is referred to as gedang kayu pecok bakal, is highly simple. Through such a very simple symbolic capital, they expressed themselves using a very simple religious offering referred to as gedang ayu pecok bakal. Gedang ayu refers to the structure of an offering which is made of bananas, coconuts, flowers, betel vine, tobacco, eggs, and some money as the essence and pecok bakal is made of various types of spices. One of the Hindu leaders at Senduro Village, through an interview, stated as follows. “bahwa bentuk upakara gedang ayu pecok bakal, merupakan warisan dari leluhur kami, yang kalau dilihat dari bentuknya sangat sederhana, akan tetapi inilah tradisi leluhur kami, yang mana gedang ayu pecok bakal ini kami pergunakan setiap ada upacara selametan, perkawinan dan upacara lainnya. Walaupun ada bentuk upakara yang lain, akan tetapi gedang yu pecok bakal sebagai wujud upakara pokok (Titik Jatmiati, interviewed on 23 March 2013). [that the gedang ayu pecok bakal offering is an inheritance from our ancestors; if viewed from its form, it is highly simple; we use it as the offering when we would like to express our gratefulness, in the wedding ceremony and in the other religious rituals] (Titik Jatmiati, interview on 23 Marh 2013). The gedang ayu pecok bakal is the form of a religious ritual which was used in the religious practice performed by the Hindus at Senduro Village. Although there were still several other forms of offering, the gedang ayu pecok bakal was the basic religious ritual. Therefore, it was the basic ritual used in the religious ritual performed to express gratefulness, in the wedding ceremony and in the religious rituals performed before and after a baby was born. Even in the religious ritual performed for someone who was stated to be grown up, such an offering was also used. However, since the Bali Hindus came, the gedang ayu pecok had been completed with what is referred to as canang sari (a type of offering). As the Hindu organization at Senduro Village was still traditional, and there was no organizational structure, the function and the role played by the Hindu leaders were highly important at that time. One of the Hindu leaders at Senduro Village stated, through an interview, as follows. ”Karena kelembagaan masih tradisional maka peranan para sesepuh atau orang yang dituakan dianggap penting untuk memberikan ajaran lewat petuah-petuah. Petuah yang diberikan oleh para sesepuh diantaranya berisi tentang ajaran budi pekerti, sopan santun, ramah tamah, sabar, menerima apa adanya. Praktik keagamaan di bidang etika diberikan oleh pare sesepuh setiap kali diadakan pertemuan (pesamuan dalam bahasa mereka). Pertemuan atau pesamuan diadakan di sanggar-sanggar pemujaan” (Mangku Ngatris, wawancara, 23 Maret 2013)” [As the organization is still traditional, the role played by the elders or those who are considered being the elders is very important. They are supposed to teach the worshippers through advices containing etiquette, ethics, friendliness, patience, and accepting what is available. The religious practice in regard to ethics is provided by the elders every time a meeting is held (in their language it is referred to as pesamuan), which is held at the worshipping places] (Mangku Ngatris, interviewed on 23 March 2013). After the Mandara Giri Semeru Agung Temple was constructed, the worshippers were organized and supervised not only at the worshipping places but also at the temple. Since then, their organization has been more modern, as can be observed from their organizational structure. The meaning of the religious practice performed at Senduro Village can be observed as follows. A new symbolic space was created. That is the first meaning. The integration between the religious practice performed by the Hindus at Senduro Village and the one performed by the Bali Hindus caused the Hindus at Senduro Village to enter a meaningless symbolic space. Such a context of space changed the perspective of the Hindus at Senduro Village; they referred to the religious practice performed by the Bali Hindus. That is the meaning of uniformity. The strong impact of the tradition of a great religion (in this case, Hinduism in Bali) damaged various types of the traditional activities inherited from their ancestors. The next meaning is the meaning of image. Glamorization was the image or a sign which was constructed by the Bali Hindu tradition, when the festival was held for the Mandiri Giri Semeru Agung Temple. The Bali Hindus gave priority to aesthetics over religious ethics. The next meaning is multiculturalism. It turned out that the existence of the Mandara Giri Semeru Agung Temple caused the atmosphere to change. The non Hindus started to show tolerance to the Hindus at Senduro Village; as a result, in performing the religious practice they were brave enough to be open; no body felt being oppressed. The next meaning is that the non Hindus and Hindus at Senduro Village seemed to start respecting one another; as a result a harmonious atmosphere was created. The novelties of the present study are as follows. Before the Bali Hindu tradition was introduced, the Hindus at Senduro Village were the followers of the tradition of the Majapahit Hindu. At that time the religious practice was secretly performed by the Hindus, resulting from the strong pressure from the majority at Senduro Village. The introduction of the Bali Hindu tradition caused the Hindus at Senduro Village to perform their religious practice openly. The identity of being Hindus, which used to be invisible, gradually appeared. In addition, the identity of the Hindus at Senduro Village seemed to be protected by the Bali Hindu tradition; they seemed to adapt it. It turned out that the adaptation process of the religious practice performed by the Hindus at Senduro Village and the one performed by the Bali Hindus led to a new problem. The adaptation process became a problem if such a process took place in the surface only (false adaptation). In such a process of adaptation, the religious practice performed at Senduro Village seemed to be revitalized; however, the symbols of the Bali Hindu tradition dominated the religious practice performed by the Hindus at Senduro Village. The resistance to the symbols of the Bali Hindu traditions was shown by the Hindu elites at Senduro Village. Such a resistance was not physically shown; it was shown in the form of the construction of a shrine named Candi Waringin at the area of the Mandhara Giri Semeru Agung Temple. Physically, it adopted the Javanese architecture. That was the realization of what had been desired by the Hindus at Senduro Village; they desired that their tradition would not be neglected. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION Before the temple was constructed, the religious practice performed by the Hindus at Senduro Village was adjusted to what was traditionally instructed by their ancestors. They were classified as what is referred to as kejawen followers. The reason was that the religious practice they performed was specific and different from the religious practice performed in the other areas. After the Mandara Giri Semeru Agung Temple was constructed, the Hindus at Senduro Village started being affected by the religious practice performed by the Bali Hindus in regard to their tattwa (philosophy), rituals and organization. The existence of the Mandara Giri Semeru Agung Temple should protect the local tradition of the Hindus at Senduro Village which was implemented in the religious practice locally performed. The Hindus at Senduro Village should think about and struggle for formal (legal) regulations which can regulate the development and conservation of the local wisdom they have. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT In this opportunity, the writer would like to thank Prof. Dr. I Gede Parimartha, M.A as the supervisor, Prof. Dr. I Wayan Ardika, M.A., as Co-supervisor I, and Dr. Drs. I Gusti Ketut Gde Arsana, M.Si. as Co-supervisor II for their attention, motivation, supervision, encouragement during the completion of this article. BIBLIOGRAPHY Harsana, I Ketut Gede. 2005. Kebangkitan Umat Hindu di Desa Senduro Kabupaten Lumajang (perspektif Kajian Budaya). (Tesis) S2. Program Pascasarjana Universitas Udayana Denpasar. Herusatato, Budiono. 2001. Simbolisme dalam Budaya Jawa. Yogyakarta : PT. Hanindita Graha Widaya. Pals, Daniel. L. 2001. Seven Theories of Religion. (Terjemahan). Yogyakarta: Dalam. Pudja. G. MA - SH. 1983. Pengantar Agama Hindu III - Veda. Jakarta. Penerbit Maya Sari. Pustaka Pelajar. Jakarta. 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