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View all search resultsPlague-ridden olden Jakarta reflects its culture
The capital city is not a newbie when it comes to a deadly pandemic in the span of about 400 years and most of them were caused by poor public health and sanitary.
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he capital city is not a newbie when it comes to deadly epidemics, having experienced several in the span of about 400 years, most caused by poor public health and sanitation.
Jakarta has recorded more than 6,800 cases of COVID-19, more than other regions of Indonesia.
On May 27, the number of patients increased by 137 – a new spike after four days of seeing the curve descending. Of those registered as COVID-19 positive, 2,043 patients were still being treated at hospitals, while 2,584 others were self-isolating.
Both while the city is struggling to flatten the curve of infections, COVID-19 is not the first pandemic to hit Jakarta.
Ancient Javanese manuscript Babad Nitik Sarta Cabolek holds a story that boasts about the greatness of Sultan Agung of Mataram, the Islamic kingdom in Central Java in the 17th century. It says that the sultan flew to Mecca every time for Friday prayer and that he once had tried to secure a spot for his grave next to Kaaba.
When his request was rejected, he got his sultana to send a plague, but the Kaaba imams tackled it with prayers. To stop the conflict, Sunan Kalijaga – one of the “nine saints” who disseminated Islam in the archipelago – stepped in. He threw a handful of soil from Mecca to Java, proclaiming that it would land in the future resting place for the kings.
The soil landed in Imogiri hill, the Royal Graveyard, where Sultan Agung was buried in 1645.
