Sky Calendars of the Indo-Malay Archipelago

Abstract

Research conducted over the past several years has revealed a richly diverse astronomical tradition in the Indo-Malay cultural area. I wish, in this paper, to share some of this richness by describing several of the many and diverse observational techniques used by the Indo-Malay peoples to help regulate their agricultural cycles. Inhabiting mountain sides, river valleys, and coastal plains, the Indo-Malay peoples are faced with a rather unpredictable tropical monsoon climate. In response to this geography and climate they have adopted two distinct types of rice farming: swidden and padi, or dry and wet. Padi farming is sedentary and relies upon heavy monsoon rains and/or irrigation for the rather large and dependable supply of water required: rice plants must be submerged from the time that they are planted in the nursery through transplanting and until seed is set. From thereon, dry weather is essential for the seed to properly ripen. Padi fanning is widely practiced on coastal plains and terraced hillsides by people such as the Javanese, the Sasak of Lombok, and the Malays of Kedah and Perak.

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