A Short Visit to Local Wisdom: Baduy

Imagine one day without your gadget: handphone, tablet or computer. No television and even no electricity. For us (at least for me) millenials, being away from gadget is hard already. Most of us are attached with social media and it even starts from early in the morning. I bet most of millenials spend at least their 10 minutes before sleep at night or after wake up in the morning scrolling down their timeline in social media. The following moments like having lunch, going to concert, meeting up with friends or simply your favorite song lyrics and quotes are uploaded to social media. Facebook, twitter, instagram, snapchat, path, and other social media platform – you name it – are part of millenials’ existence. Modern René Descartes might say: I post therefore I am.

 

Baduy is one of Indonesian tribes who still want to stay pure, out of globalization these days. I had the chance to visit them last weekend. We started the trip from Tanah Abang station – Jakarta and went by train to Rangkas station – Banten for about 1.5 hours. We still need to continue the trip then by driving an elf (minivan) from Rangkas to Ciboleger for about 2 hours. There were 20 of us with 2 guides from Travellova Tour, our trip organizer. Baduy itself is divided into two groups: Baduy Luar (Outer Baduy) and Baduy Dalam (Inner Baduy). And Ciboleger is the entrance gate to Baduy Luar. We had lunch in a local warung and started trekking at about 1 pm. 

Our group with guides

We were accompanied by guide from Baduy Dalam and some Baduy boys walked with us as well. Some of them offered themselves to be our porter to Baduy Dalam since the trekking route was quite challenging. I walked along with Aldi, Kodok or Deni, and Lamung – a 9 year old Baduy boy. All of them walked with bare feet and their traditional white and black clothes. At first, I was a little bit hesitated to ask questions like religion, marriage and education because I thought that those might be sensitive for them. So we talked about how far they’ve been and Jakarta it is. It took approximately 7 days for them to go to Jakarta with bare feet. 

Lamung :)

The main difference between Baduy Dalam and Baduy Luar is that the latter has more access to “products of globalization”. Most of them wear traditional Baduy batik with blue and black color, but there are some who also wear casual clothes like T-Shirts and sandals. Shampoo, soaps, toothpaste and other chemical products are also strictly forbidden in Baduy Dalam as they don’t want the river to be polluted. Electricity and gadgets are also strictly forbidden in Baduy Dalam, but we can still take pictures in Baduy Luar. Nonetheless, both Baduy Luar and Baduy Dalam built their houses and bridges in traditional way. Bridges aren’t built by cement and steels, but with bamboos and ropes. 

Spotted: Nirvana T-Shirt in Baduy Luar 

"Visitors are not allowed to bath in this river"

The bridge

Rain was pouring in the beginning of our trekking trip and it stopped for a while, but then rain poured again and even harder. The route was a bit rocky which made it hard already. But with rain, it was slippery with muds as well. For us urban who live in big city, I thought that it was a privilege to walk in the rain and muds :P. Mineral water is really needed during trekking and you can easily find it in Baduy Luar.

The trekking route: up and down, and muddy

After 4 hours walking, finally we arrived at Baduy Dalam at about 5.30 PM. We stayed in one of locals’ house. It was a young couple with their two infants. The house is like traditional rumah panggung style. There was no dining room, living room or bedroom; just a small kitchen, a small room for the family and big space for us, the girls to sleep. 

At night, all of us had the chance to have dialogue with some locals. There were many questions to be asked, from religion, politics, birth and death ceremony, and even marriage. There are 3 villages in Baduy Dalam: Cibeo, Cikertawarna and Cikeusik. We stayed in Cibeo village. Most Baduy speak Sundanese with their particular accent. There are about more than 60 families in Baduy Dalam which make the total about 300 locals in Baduy Dalam. Each village is governed by the highest priest, Pu’un. Baduys are not affiliated in any one of Indonesian formal religions. Their belief refers to Sunda Wiwitan, a belief which has Hinduism and Islam roots and local belief in ancestors as well. 

Regarding politics, all of Baduy Dalams don’t have Indonesian ID Card (Kartu Tanda Penduduk – KTP). They also don’t vote in elections. It doesn’t mean that they are opposed the government. It simply because of their traditional custom said so. The marriage is usually arranged since they were 10 years old and then got married at the age of above 15 (for women) and 18 (for men). The new family usually builds a new house, but they have to go to Jaro (local leader below Pu’un) and later Pu’un to propose. They don’t need to pay the land since land is inherited in Baduy and all the village will help to build the house together. Most of Baduy Dalams work as farmers, but some of them also sell traditional honey and handicraft, such as bracelet and weaved clothes.

It was a nice 2 days to spend in Baduy Dalam before go back to the hectic and crowded Jakarta. It was also nice to have a “solitude treatment” from buzzing news in social media for a while. Baduys are few examples of many other Indonesian tribes who still hold into their traditional values. It doesn’t mean that they are primitive thus need to be modernized. They just choose their own way of life which different from us in big cities. No gadgets, no electricity, no news from the current hot seat race in Jakarta. But they do live happily. 

“Lonjor teu meunang dipotong, pondok teu meunang disambung” – Baduy Proverb

(Panjang tidak boleh dipotong, pendek tidak boleh disambung – The long ones shouldn’t be cut and the short ones shouldn’t be tied.)

Me with "Kodok"

New friends :)