Cirebon: (Their) Spiritual Journey

 The journey basically started about 1 month before the real trip with a phone call from my sister:

Sis: I want to go somewhere

Me: umm.. Semarang?

Sis: no, been there several times. Maybe Cirebon.

Me: ok, let’s go.

Sis: When?

Me: not this week and not the week after, so it must be after that.

Sis: good, let’s book the tickets.

From that day on until the day we arrived there, even after a series of internet browsing on “what to do in Cirebon”, the term of spiritual journey never crossed my mind. Well, of course I knew that in Cirebon lays in peace Sunan Gunung Jati, one of the Walisongo or saints of Islam in Indonesia. But I never thought that this city is a pilgrimage site (presumably because of the Sunan’s tomb).

Everything seems normal when my sister and I, along with four friends arrived in the historical Cirebon train station on Saturday noon. A conversation with a lady owner of a small restaurant brought us to our first and the most important destination which will set our mood for the whole trip: the tomb of Sunan Gunung Jati.

Cirebon is a small city indeed. So when the lady said that the tomb is a bit out of town, it turned out to be only a couple of minutes away by small public bus (angkot). Walking along the passage to the tomb, the smell of rose petals and incense as signature of Javanese pilgrimage starts filling the air. I always think that a tomb is always a quiet place. I was wrong. Here we are, in the big gate in front of the complex of Sunan Gunung Jati’s tomb, together with some groups of pilgrim, confronted by dozens of local people. If we don’t give them money, they will try to block us from entering the tomb complex. Although they said it’s for sadaqah (alms), for me - I’m so sorry - surrounded by some men asking for money really feels like burglary.

The pilgrims in front of Sunan Gunung Jati's tomb

Finally able to enter the complex, we were asked to sit down in front of a giant door, and saying a prayer there because the tomb of the Sunan is just behind the door and pilgrims are not allowed to enter the door or go near the tomb. The guard said that to enter the door, we have to get permission from the Sultan Sepuh (King of Cirebon) and the mayor of Cirebon. For some time, I could only sat there trying to catch some pictures of the pilgrims who are so absorbed in their prayer even some of them are crying. After that, they throw some coins to the door. Maybe the “alms” will make their prayers heard. I was still stunned by all of this pilgrimage when my sister dragged me further to the right side of the door. There’s another quarter there, red in color, decorated with Chinese ornaments and an incense burner and of course another closed door. I overheard a guide explained to a group of pilgrim in front of us that this is the tomb the Sunan’s wife, who’s a Chinese princess. We couldn’t stay long in this tomb complex because groups of pilgrims kept on coming. So we just took some more pictures and left for our next destination.

Actually, as a whole, the tomb of the Sunan is a nice place. The architecture, like many other old buildings I would find in Cirebon, is a mixture of traditional Cirebon and Chinese, with some Arabic touch. In its white-painted wall, they put Chinese ceramic plates which make it artistically colorful. The tomb complex, which consists of the Sunan and his wife’s tomb, including the late members of the Cirebon court, are surprisingly well-maintained, it’s indeed old, but it’s very clean, something rare in Indonesia.

After that rather unexpected experience in the tomb, we really want something soothing. So, off we go to Trusmi, a small village, home for traditional batik community in Cirebon, with many shops selling batik with Cirebon signature in a very reasonable price.

But, before we arrived in Trusmi, the angkot driver asked where we came from, and what we’re doing there. Knowing that we came from Jakarta, he suddenly suggested that we should visit Goa Sunyarangi. It’s a bit out of town (this time indeed out of town), but the driver only asked for Rp. 6000,- for each of us. Oh how I love Cirebon with the kindness and the cheap prices!

And again, I was stunned and mesmerized. This time, by the beauty and the uniqueness of the place. Goa Sunyarangi was a water park own by the Sultan of Cirebon (I guess before the region was divided into 4. I’ll tell you later about the 4 palaces of Cirebon). So, although I once heard that this park was abandoned before the construction was finished, I could still see and feel its beauty. The park consists of some large ponds, some artificial caves (maybe this is where the name came from), a large field (nowadays is functioned as an open-air theatre), and some “bale” (traditional porch), including Bale Kambang, a porch which supposed to be looked floating in the water but nowadays because the lack of the water, the Bale just floating in the air.

The caves are made from rock; it was carved in such way that resembles coral reefs. But these coral reefs depicting a story (or stories) that I couldn’t understand. Maybe because the carving are so vague, that at a glance people only regard these as “coral reef” (or maybe it’s just me :lol). We started coming in and out, climbing up and down the caves and taking pictures. I felt a bit desperate because I couldn’t capture this entire wonderful place into one shot, so I just snapped as much picture as I could. The weather is so nice that afternoon, and surely, walking through the Bale Kambang and sitting there with my feet hanging loosely in the air, I feel so relaxed. I can’t imagine how beautiful this place could have been if it’s functioning the way the Palace wanted it to be.

Bale Kambang and its surrounding

When my sister dragged me out of the Bale, I didn’t realize that the “a couple of minutes” that we promised to the driver has extended to almost an hour. We’re lucky that the driver didn’t mad at us. Again, how nice the people are!

So, we continued our journey to the batik center, Trusmi.

The air conditioned store in Trusmi gave us some comfort against the humid weather of the city. Soon, we were buried by thousands of clothes with various colors and motifs. After so many argumentations with my sister, mostly because I always want to buy clothes that exactly the same with hers while she detests the idea of wearing something twin with me, I bought 3 pieces of clothes: one exactly the same with my sister’s, one the same motif but different color, and the other one totally different. I dare say it’s a win-win solution for us, although I know that deep in her heart, my sister pledged not to wear those clothes near me.

Near dusk, we went to our hotel near the Cirebon station. There are so many hotels in the street, but based on a friend’s recommendation, we stay in Hotel Slamet. It’s very cheap, including breakfast which we can request to be delivered at dawn. It’s an old hotel though, so there’s no shower in the bathroom, and the air conditioner is also the old type although it works properly. But it’s indeed very nice.

Cirebon main street, on a rainy Sunday morning

When I woke up the next morning, the weather was not as good as my expectation. There were heavy clouds hanging in the sky waiting for one final blow to shed their tears. But we only had limited time in the city because we’ll be leaving for Jakarta this afternoon. So the show must go on. At 6.30, under a drizzle, we hailed becak (tricycle) and headed to Keraton Kasepuhan (Kasepuhan Palace). Besides a small city, from the becak I just realized that Cirebon is an old one. There are so many old shops, probably still owned by the descendents of Chinese merchants who came to Cirebon hundreds of years ago. And on that Sunday morning, not many people and vehicles on the street, what a special moment in one city. The drizzle along with wind was so refreshing and made me grinned all the way to the Keraton.

Cirebon was a well-known Islam Kingdom back in the 15^th – 16^th century. During the Dutch occupation, due to family conflicts in the court of Cirebon in the 17^th – 18^th century, the kingdom was divided into 4 smaller kingdoms: Keraton Kasepuhan, Keraton Kanoman, Keraton Kacirebonan and Keraton Kaibon. The era of the kingdoms finally ended in the early of 20^th century when the Dutch eliminated the power of Sultan and built Cirebon city as part of the Dutch East Indies.

Me, in front of the main entrance of Keraton Kasepuhan

Keraton Kasepuhan is the biggest and the most well-preserved palace among the others. It’s located near a mosque and a large field (alun-alun), just typical of Javanese city planning.  When we arrived there, the drizzle has turned up into a heavy rain, so with our colorful umbrella, we entered the large gate to the palace. In front of the second gate, there’s a traditional house where tourists buy tickets. For 5000 rupiah/person, we could visit almost all part of the palace accompanied by a tour guide.

Still under our umbrella, we were led to a closed gate to the palace. My first impression is, the palace is not so big, just like an ordinary house. Well, of course a grandeur one. And once again, the place is so tidy and clean. In front of the palace, there’s a statue of a twin tiger (or lion??) as a symbol that Cirebon Kingdom is the successor of Padjajaran Kingdom. Actually I want to enter the Palace from the front door, just like an honored guest (lol), but because I’m just another ordinary tourist, our guide took us to yet another gate and we entered the main palace via the side door.

The King's throne

Et voila! Suddenly we’re in front of the King’s throne. The chair where the King usually sits to receive his guests is some stairs above the floor. And just like other old building in Cirebon, the walls are ornamented by Chinese ceramics. But of course the ornaments are extraordinary beautiful like no others, with red flowers and its green branches. The interesting thing is there are also some ceramics from Europe that depicts some stories in the Bible, while the Kingdom of Cirebon is indeed a Muslim one. The guide then allowed us to take some pictures there, that’s when I realized that the chamber in which the throne is located is a bit dark. I don’t know if it’s because of the heavy rain outside or it is constructed that way to strengthen the sacred aura of the throne. I’m not someone who can feel an aura or something beyond logical, so I didn’t feel unusual at that time. But my sister and our friends believe that there’s “something different”, something magical and inhuman. They even use our pictures as proof, said that all pictures taken there are blur. Well I think of course in that minimum light all pictures will be blur. But once again, I really don’t know.

My sister & the decoration of the King's throne

The guide then took us outside, and entered another building just on the left side of the main palace. It’s a kind of small museum which contains the heritage of the late kings. It’s such a pity that the building looked grim, and the collections are not well-maintained.  We only there for a short time, and then we move to another building on the right side which is another small museum, dedicated to the Royal Carriage of the King (Kereta Kencana Singo Barong).

There are two versions of the Singo Barong Royal carriage in this museum. The first version is the original one, which was made in the 17^th century. To preserve this wonderful carriage, it’s only used once a year during a ceremony every 1^st of Syawal (Javanese calendar).  For a more routine use, the Keraton has made the version no.2 a.k.a the duplicate of the carriage. The second one is smaller, with fewer ornaments and of course lower quality.

When we got out of the museum, the rain was still pouring from the sky. But our dedicated tour guide still had another site to visit. He walked to a small gate beside the museum (I can’t remember the exact location of the gate, it’s just somewhere between the museum and the main palace) which led us to the backyard of the Palace. Passed through another red-brick-gate, he showed us an ancient well belong to the palace. He said that this is a holy well, thus the water from the well have some power, for example to cure maladies or as an anti-aging. And just for your information, in this spiritual city, there are 7 ancient holy well which have the same power. Being skeptical from the very first time, I just waited outside while a friend washed her face with the water. And that’s the end of the tour. Walking out of the palace, I’m so thankful to the pleasant and nice tour guide.  

Still under our colorful umbrella, we’re headed west to the oldest mosque in Cirebon: Masjid Agung Sang Cipta Rasa. The front gate of this mosque was painted green and bright pink, very eye catching. The problem is, that’s not the main entrance nowadays. We have to circle half way to the back of the mosque to enter. We almost couldn’t find this door because it’s a bit hidden between houses.

The Gate of Masjid Agung Cirebon

This mosque was built from woods in the 15^th century by the Wali Songo. It is so big but quite dark because the construction of the roof makes the ceiling lower. There are 2 main parts in the mosque: the main prayer room and the general prayer room. The main one is in the center of the building. It’s just like a mosque in a mosque. The room is of course darker than the general room. The ambiance inside the room is rather creepy and I could smell incense burning and flowers, something rare in a mosque. Before long, I literally ran out of that room leaving my sister behind.

When the rain stopped, we continued our journey to another palace, this time Keraton Kanoman. The palace is not far from Kasepuhan complex by becak. There’s no ticket for tourist nor guide in this palace. As a consequence, we could only wandering around the complex. The palace is as big as the Kasepuhan (at least I think so), but the buildings and and the environment is not as well-preserved. The most nice spot in the palace is its beautiful big gate in front of the palace which painted white and ornamented with ceramic plates. Inside the palace, there’s a small mosque that I think creepier than Masjid Agung.

The palace tour abruptly ended because it’s time to return to our hotel, grab some lunch, pack our things and headed back to ‘real life’. And fortunately, in the train back to Jakarta, I just realized that my camera ran out of batteries. So while my sister reviewed her pictures, I just dozed off. Although exhausted, and not spiritually charged, I still think that this journey in Cirebon gave me another point of view about Islam and its Wali Songo pilgrimage. I did pledge not to be involved in such a pilgrimage like one in the Sunan Gunung Jati tomb. But when my sister whispered to me that she want to visit Sunan Ampel tomb and mosque in Surabaya and also wali songo mosques in Kudus and Demak, I instantly said “I’m in”. Well maybe it’s just indeed a spiritual journey.