The Tenggerese are the descendants of the Majapahit princes. Their population of roughly 600,000 is centered in thirty villages in the isolated Tengger mountains (Mount Bromo) within the Bromo-Tengger-Semeru national park in East-Central Java. They are traditionally believed to be the descendants of Roro Anteng and Joko Seger.
The Tenggerese speak an archaic Javanese (Majapahit) dialect called Tengger. They have their own written Kavi script based on the old Javanese Brahmi type.
The Tenggerese generally profess Hinduism as their religion, although they have incorporated many Buddhist and Animist elements. Their places of worship include the Punden, Poten and Danyang. The Poten is a sacred area of ground at Mt. Bromo's Sand sea, and becomes the focus of the annual Kasada Ceremony. Within the Poten, it contains several buildings and enclosures, arranged in a specific composition called the Mandalas (Zones).
The Tenggerese also worship a host of spirits (ancestor worship). They include cikal bakal, the spirits of the founders of the village, the rohbau rekso, the village guardian spirits and the roh leluhur, the spirits of the ancestors. Rituals to propitiate these spirits are conducted by special priests. During these rites little doll-like figures representing the spirits are clothed in batik cloth and are presented with food and drink. It is believed that the spirits partake of the essence of these offerings. The Bromo volcano is considered one of the most sacred places. If it erupts, they believe that their god is very angry.
Their priests are called Dukun or Rasi Pujjanga, who play a middle role in their religious worship. They are believed to possess spiritual knowledge called Ilmu of the gods and the spirits, which they carefully guard from ordinary Tenggers. However, in the past few decades, due to over-population in Madura, many Madurese have explioted their land by clearing some of their nature reserves for land and converted 2-3% (up to 10,000 of them) of the Tenggerese to Islam in the process, particularly those living in the more accessible areas in the lowlands just outside the Tengger range. Both Muslim and Christian missionaries have attempted to convert the Tenggerese. However, the Christians have met with hardly any success; they only managed to convert a few hundred to Christianity. The Tenggerese Muslims have a more successful conversion, though they frequently mix original Hindu-Buddhist ideas and spirits to their Islam and celebrate Tenggerese festivals at the same time.
The Tenggerese also worship a host of spirits (ancestor worship). They include cikal bakal, the spirits of the founders of the village, the rohbau rekso, the village guardian spirits and the roh leluhur, the spirits of the ancestors. Rituals to propitiate these spirits are conducted by special priests. During these rites little doll-like figures representing the spirits are clothed in batik cloth and are presented with food and drink. It is believed that the spirits partake of the essence of these offerings. The Bromo volcano is considered one of the most sacred places. If it erupts, they believe that their god is very angry.
Their priests are called Dukun or Rasi Pujjanga, who play a middle role in their religious worship. They are believed to possess spiritual knowledge called Ilmu of the gods and the spirits, which they carefully guard from ordinary Tenggers. However, in the past few decades, due to over-population in Madura, many Madurese have explioted their land by clearing some of their nature reserves for land and converted 2-3% (up to 10,000 of them) of the Tenggerese to Islam in the process, particularly those living in the more accessible areas in the lowlands just outside the Tengger range. Both Muslim and Christian missionaries have attempted to convert the Tenggerese. However, the Christians have met with hardly any success; they only managed to convert a few hundred to Christianity. The Tenggerese Muslims have a more successful conversion, though they frequently mix original Hindu-Buddhist ideas and spirits to their Islam and celebrate Tenggerese festivals at the same time.
The main festival of the Tenggerese is the Yadnya Kasada, which lasts about a month. On the fourteenth day of the Kasada, the Tenggerese go to Poten Bromo and ask for blessing from the main deity Hyang Widi Wasa and the God of the Mountain (Mount Serumu) by presenting annual offerings of rice, fruit, vegetables, flowers, livestock and other local produce. The origin of this festival is a legend which dates back to the Majapahit kingdom, during the reign of King Brawijaya, involving the queen of the Kingdom giving birth to a daughter named Roro Anteng, who married Jaka Seger, a young man from the Brahmin Caste.
According to the legend, Roro Anteng and Jaka Seger were among many others who fled from the already tattering Majapahit kingdom during the 15th century, when the Islamic religion was gaining followers rapidly.
According to the legend, Roro Anteng and Jaka Seger were among many others who fled from the already tattering Majapahit kingdom during the 15th century, when the Islamic religion was gaining followers rapidly.
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