The traditional community of Bonokeling in Banyumas regency, Central Java, observes a special ritual in the fasting month of Ramadhan, in which people walk in a procession covering a distance of 50 kilometers to the cemetery of the community'€™s first patriarch, Kyai Bonokeling, for self-purification.

This tradition is called unggah-unggahan, which means ascending, and according to Bonokeling customary community spokesman Sumitro, 55, it aims at welcoming Ramadhan by purifying one'€™s soul. This is done through prayers during the pilgrimage at the Bonokeling cemetery in Pekuncen village, Jatilawang district.

In memory of the services of Kyai Bonokeling, the village'€™s first customary leader, community members are required to walk from their homes in groups. '€œThose still strong enough are suggested to go barefoot, but women are allowed to wear sandals,'€ Sumitro told The Jakarta Post at the cemetery during the ritual in mid-June.

He said community members with the farthest starting point came from the neighboring Cilacap regency. They traveled some 50 kilometers on foot, in a 10-hour journey with three stops to rest at designated posts.

The Bonokeling community is one of the largest traditional societies in Central Java with about 10,000 members, who are 99 percent concentrated in two neighboring regencies, Cilacap and Banyumas.

The community has the distinction of having preserved its Javanese religious traditions for centuries. Its members also maintain the culture of living with grace, discipline and great tolerance.

On the occasion, male members wear sarongs and ikat (head-cloths) while their female counterparts are dressed in jarik (batik wraparounds) and kemben (breast-cloths).

Purifying: Before performing the unggah-unggahan ritual, Bonokeling followers have to take part in ablutions.

The prayers offered by the Bonokeling people clearly combine Islamic teachings with Javanese precepts, while mentioning Allah and the Prophet Muhammad.

'€œSome scholars call us followers of Islam Kejawen [tinged with Javanese mysticism]. Lecturers from the State Islamic University [IAIN] often come here to conduct research,'€ revealed Sumitro.

Sumitro referred to the fact that Bonokeling people have Islamic identity cards and get married in the way Muslims do. But their religious worship is performed in a different fashion, with prayers blending Arabic and Javanese languages.

They carry out ritual ablution and prayer duties in their own way. Instead of praying five times within 24 hours and attending Friday mass prayers, they do the obligations in the style of meditation at any time they need.

'€œWe'€™re just practicing the instructions Eyang [Elder] Bonokeling handed down, until us the 13th generation. All the teachings were orally given so we don'€™t have guidebooks,'€ said Sumitro.

He explained that Eyang Bonokeling lived in the era of Mataram when Islam entered Java. '€œThe exact year is unknown. We only know it from the family tree. I belong to the 13th generation,'€ he said.

Sumitro claimed that all Bonokeling people were descended from Eyang Bonokeling making them connected as a clan through blood line.

The community is headed by a juru kunci (caretaker), assisted by five coordinators of big families called bedogol. '€œThere are always five of them to symbolize the Pandawa Five [the five heroes in Mahabharata epic],'€ he said.

Taking a breath: Members of the Bonokeling community take a rest during their pilgrimage to the cemetery of Kyai Bonokeling a journey of some 50 kilometers on foot.

The caretaker and his aides are required to stay in the Bonokeling cemetery complex in traditional Javanese houses with a wooden stage and a hall. The unggah-unggahan ritual starts from their houses and is led by relevant group leaders.

Nearly all participants carry various kinds of food ingredients to be cooked and consumed in a prayer ceremony following their pilgrimage to the Bonokeling cemetery. The food is neatly packed and mounted on uniformly framed yokes.

After having a night'€™s rest, the next morning they proceed to make their ascent to the tomb to complete their pilgrimage. Women are the first to go up while male members cook the food.

'€œIn this tradition women are not allowed to cook as they'€™re already exhausted. This procession also constitutes a way of honoring women,'€ said Hadiwijaya, a bedogol of Bonokeling.

According to him, in every unggah-unggahan at least 10 goats are slaughtered besides hundreds of kilos of rice as well as Javanese dishes and snacks being prepared.

At the end of the pilgrimage, all members offer prayers before feasting together under the direction of the caretaker and bedogol, winding up the entire two-day procession ritual in the cemetery area, which is steeped in Javanese ambience.

'€œWe just follow the advice of our parents and ancestors to walk to the cemetery on entering Ramadhan. We all enjoy this pilgrimage,'€ said Sudiro, 20, a Cilacap resident, whose feet had blisters due to the long trek and hot weather. '€œIt'€™s nothing compared to the teachings of Eyang Bonokeling,'€ he added.

Sukari, an official of the Cultural Heritage Conservation Center for Central Java, East Java and Yogyakarta, described the Bonokeling community as a major society with a Javanese-Islamic platform. '€œWe'€™ve come here to further study this community,'€ said Sukari, who also pointed to the independent nature of the activity without government intervention.

Serene prayer: Followers of Bonokeling pray in homage to founder Kyai Bonokeling during the unggah-unggahan ritual.

Communal work: Male members of the Bonokeling community cook at the Bonokeling cemetery complex for a feast after the ritual.

The feast: Male members of the Bonokeling community prepare a feast after the ritual.

'€” Photos by JP/Agus Maryono