Interpreting the historical significance of tombs and chronicles in contemporary Java

Abstract

This chapter argues that juru kunci throughout Java play an extraordinarily important—though often overlooked—role in interpreting and disseminating views of Java’s past. Individuals on Java visit tombs with their special intentions, often at times of personal crisis, in order to place themselves in relationship to a personage of the past. It is the custodian who assists in this relationship: he offers access, prepares the visitor, guides the visit and then interprets the outcome. The juru kunci of Trowulan’s revelation belongs to a long tradition of accounts of Brawijaya. In the Javanese babad tradition, Brawijaya serves as a ‘source figure’ from whom subsequent historical figures derive their royal genealogical link. The document describes an encounter between Ki Ageng Pamanahan and Arya Jayaprana. Pamanahan speaks to Jayaprana with high forms of address as ‘Sang Tapa’, whereas Jayaprana addresses Pamanahan as a child.

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