Tengger

Every year the fairest maiden of the Tengger was the chosen victim offered to Siva, who, in his attribute of a Consuming

Through the Malay Archipelago Emily Richings

He adds:The "ethnic isolation" explanation of Tengger tradition... fails to take seriously Tengger claims that their tradition is Javanese, and ignores historical evidence that clearly indicates that Tengger have long been affected by developments in larger Java.

languagehat.com: IT'S NEVER THAT SIMPLE. 2005

Hefner had been told that the Tengger were "backward," "primitive," and generally exotic they "throw live animals into the volcano's smoldering crater".

languagehat.com: IT'S NEVER THAT SIMPLE. 2005

He briefly describes the historical background the fall of Majapahit and the consequent Islamicization of the rest of the island and the villagers' attitude towards it, concluding: "According to their own notions, in other words, Tengger are not an ethnic enclave of non-Javanese ways, but heirs to a tradition with deep roots in Javanese history."

languagehat.com: IT'S NEVER THAT SIMPLE. 2005

From this perspective, the Tengger story is not that of an isolated ethnic group unaffected by developments in larger Java.

languagehat.com: IT'S NEVER THAT SIMPLE. 2005

Finally, there's the parallel case of a Hindu enclave in Java itself, as described by Robert W. Hefner in his book Hindu Javanese: Tengger Tradition and Islam Princeton, 1985: the Tengger society of a handful of villages on the north slopes of Mount Bromo near the eastern end of the island.

languagehat.com: IT'S NEVER THAT SIMPLE. 2005

Although the ritual tradition Tengger preserves is now restricted to this mountain region, the cultural conditions to which it has responded are similar to those in many areas of rural Java...

languagehat.com: IT'S NEVER THAT SIMPLE. 2005

Madoera, and the level morasses of Eastern Java, bound the wide harbour, the blue cloud of the distant Tengger soaring abruptly on the horizon.

Through the Malay Archipelago Emily Richings

Violet mountains lean against the pale blue of a rain-washed sky, tjewara and teak glisten with jewelled lustre, and the Tengger, bathed in amethystine light, lifts itself above the world as the realm of purity and peace, ever revealed and prophesied by the glory of mountain scenery.

Through the Malay Archipelago Emily Richings

The Sand Sea was originally the base of the Tengger volcano, split from head to foot by an appalling eruption, which forced mud, sand, and lava from the enclosing walls into the surrounding valley.

Through the Malay Archipelago Emily Richings