Ngaju Ritual Specialist and the Rationalization of Hindu-Kaharingan.
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THE SARAWAK MUSEUM JOURNAL |
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Title :
Ngaju Ritual Specialist and the Rationalization of Hindu-Kaharingan. |
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Author :
Anne Schiller |
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Abstract:
On April 19, 1980 the Indonesian Ministry of Religion declared Kaharingan, religion of the Ngaju Dayaks of Central Kalimantan, a Hindu sect. The Ngaju are the indigenous inhabitants of the mid-and lower regions of several of that province’s major waterways. Swidden agriculturalists who supplement their income by collecting forest products, the Ngaju generally live in villages of a few hundred persons each along the rivers. Villages are separated by great expanses of jungle and the sole means of transportation between villages available to most Ngaju is the river. Variation in ritual practices and beliefs throughout the area can be attributed in part to limited interaction between groups of Ngaju. The name Kaharingan originates from the root haring, a Ngaju word meaning “to come to life spontaneously”. Informally in use since the first quarter of thls century, the name Kaharingan won wide acceptance in the 1950’s followinga series of meetings held in several Kahayan River villages. The meetings provideda forum for ritual specialists and other local figures to discuss the future of their region’s traditional religion. The government’s decision to recognize Kaharingan came in response to a decade-long campaign for national recognition of Ngaju Religion, originally part of a wider set of demands which included the creation of the Province of Central Kalimantan.
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| DOI: XXXX |
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How to cite:
Anne Schiller. (1986). A Ngaju Ritual Specialist and the Rationalization of Hindu-Kaharingan. The Sarawak Museum Journal, XXXVI (57): 231-240 |
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References
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