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Blitar youths visit different houses of worship
A group of men and women in traditional Javanese attire greeted on Sunday a group of youths from the Gusdurian interfaith community in front of the gate of their temple at the foot of Mount Kelud in Blitar, East Java
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span>A group of men and women in traditional Javanese attire greeted on Sunday a group of youths from the Gusdurian interfaith community in front of the gate of their temple at the foot of Mount Kelud in Blitar, East Java.
The men and women are caretakers of Pura Sapto Argo Sido Langgeng, a Hindu temple located in Tulungrejo, Gandusari district, some 35 kilometers northeast of Blitar.
The visit of 24 youths from Gusdurian — most of whom were Muslims — was part of the community’s trip to a number of houses of worship of different faiths and religions in Blitar regency, conducted to commemorate the International Day for Tolerance on Nov. 16.
The temple’s caretakers took the youths on a tour around and inside the temple, explaining sections of the temple along with their respective functions and philosophy.
“We are worshippers of Javanese Hindu,” religious leader Bagus Sapto of Sido Langgeng temple told the visiting youths.
He said Hindu people have resided in Blitar at least since the Kediri kingdom in the 10th century. When many Hindu people left the region for Bali following the fall of the Majapahit kingdom in the 16th century, some chose to stay in Blitar.
Currently, there are some 30,000 Hindu followers in Blitar, or the third-largest Hindu population in East Java after Banyuwangi and Surabaya in East Java. Being close to Bali, the stronghold of Indonesian Hindus, accounts for the high number of Hindu worshippers in Banyuwangi.
Bagus said that in villages far from large cities, religious differences were never an obstacle among communities.
“All religions consider tolerance as part of their values. In Hindu, it is based on the principle to love the fellow creatures of God’s creation,” he said.
There are dozens of temples in Blitar, yet the Gusdurian community chose Sido Langgeng to visit, thanks to the temple’s attention to the values of local wisdom — in this case, Javanese cultural values.
“In the context of tolerance, local wisdom can be a meeting point for different religions,” said Gusdurian activist Masrukin.
From Tegalrejo, the group visited Bodigiri, a Buddhist temple located in Balerejo, a village with a pluralistic community where five out of the country’s official six religions have followers.
“A temple functions as a place to meditate. Everyone, regardless of their religion, is welcome to meditate here,” Jaya Kumaro Jaenuri from the Bodigiri temple told the Gusdurian community.
In Santo Petrus-Paulus Catholic Church in Wlingi, their visit received appreciation from priest Dhani Driantoro, who expressed hope that the move to promote tolerance would have a positive impact on the wider community.
The final house of worship the group visited was Poo An Kiong Confucian temple in Blitar, which also marked the long history of religious tolerance in the city and nearby areas, including Tulungagung, Kediri and Malang.
“From the religious leaders we met, we also learned how to say greetings from their respective faiths and asked them the meaning behind them,” said a trip participant, Sulis Sindu Wasoni.
Another participant, Sugeng Riyanto, a Buddhist, said one thing he had learned from the visit was that all religions taught about harmony in the community, regardless of their religion.
For Masrukin, the visit showed him how to deal with the psychical obstacles and reluctance to enter the houses of worship of other religions.
“People of other religions worship their God in their own place of worship, like what we do in mosques,” he said.
