The Element of Myth in Kareta Kanjeng Nyai Jimad
Indonesia has never been a monarch country, but thanks to the Special District of Yogyakarta that still has the form of sultanate, one can found a number of royal carriages here in Indonesia. There are a total of 23 royal carriages kept in the Rotowijayan Museum, a museum that specifically keeps royal carriages of the Sultans of Yogyakarta. Each of the carriages has its own function. Some are used as transportation for the King and Queen when they need to have a sight, and the others are needed to carry dancers, bride and groom, and even the dead.
Throughout the 23 royal carriages, one is deemed to be sacred. It is called Kanjeng Nyai Jimad. This cart was used during the reign of Hamengkubuwana I until Hamengkubuwana III. It took 8 horses to pull this carriage. It is the oldest cart made in Netherland 1570 as a gift from General Governor Jacob Mossel to Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwana I. But, the mystic version of this carriage's origin pops up. It is said that Kanjeng Nyai Jimad carriage was belong to Nyi Roro Kidul that people assure as the goddess of the South Sea. One time, when servants from Keraton were fishing, the fishing-rod accidentally hooked the carriage.
It is sacred because it contains some elements of myth. But before talking deeper about the elements of it, one should know the definition of myth. It is 'a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation, especially one that is concerned with deities or demigods and explains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature'. According to William Hansen, there are 12 elements of myth. One of them is the 'characters are often nonhuman - e.g. gods, goddesses, supernatural beings, first people'. Therefore, by that definition, the element of myth in the carriage is that it consist an imaginary and fictious figure, who is the great goddess from the South Sea, Nyi Roro Kidul.
The name Kanjeng Nyai Jimad came from the Sultan himself. As a Sultan, he has a privilege to name the carriage whatever he wants. However, people believe that the name was to represent Nyi Roro Kidul. At the front part of the carriage, there is a sculpture of a woman figure that puts her hands up as if she is spurring the carriage. According to one of our interviewee, it symbolizes women's role as a 'supporter'. It emphasizes the women superiority against men.
Every Friday night, the care-taker of the carriage will put a wreath around the sculpture's neck, along with some arrangement of offering that they put on the floor in front of the figurous sculpture. The Javanese believe they need to give offerings to reflect their manner and etiquette to others, especially to the nature, elder, and things that they consider to have guardian(s). The offering consists of bananas, a glass of water, flowers, pandan leaves, and some amount of money. Each of the offering has its own meaning. The bananas reflect our purposes in life and hope to succeed in building our future. Flowers and water represent the prime needs of human life. Pandan leaves symbolize corps, and money reflects welfare. The offerings are frequently replaced for the sake of freshness every Friday night which people believe as the time when the invisible beings are come to earth to visit their children.
While for the maintenance, a special ceremony to clean Kanjeng Nyai Jimad is held annually, conducted once in a year, on Kliwon Tuesday or Friday in Suro Month. The ceremony is called Jamasan. In Javanese, the word Jamasan itself has a literal meaning, which is to 'clean' and to 'purify'. But, behind the literal meaning, people of Keraton do the Jamasan because it has the ability to cast the bad spirit out.Jamasan requires some ingredients; water mixed with lime slices and flowers, and duster for purifying the kingdom heritage. Lime is chosen because it symbolizes the bitter and sour when human receiving trials and obstacles from God. Furthermore, for the Javanese , flowers give philosophical meaning related to the hope so that one can get the 'fragrances' for life, or the positive teachings from the elder (ancestors). Some argues that if one suddenly smells the fragrance of flower around us, it means the elder is nearby, because s/he has implemented their positive teachings. In addition, limes and flowers smell good. Thousands of citizens attend this ritual, because they believe that the water used to wash carriage has some special powers related to health. Moreover, the water can also be used as a bad spirit repellents.
All in all, Javanese really believe that Kareta Kanjeng Nyai Jimad is one of the heirlooms belongs to the Kingdom that needs to be treated good in order to get benefits from it.
Other sources for the video:
1. Pak Utomo (Guide from Rotowijayan Museum)
2. Pak Andri (Yogyakarta Citizen)
3. Some Images are taken from Google images.