Bunches of young coconut leaves (janur) were decorating the bamboo pillars. Standing steadily in the middle of a big wooden house, or a hall , six families lived in it. For Dayak people, living together is their culture until one of them can build a house for his/her own.
That night, hundreds of Dayak Meratus people having Kaharingan belief gathered in Cempaka Hall, Kamawakan village, to do the Aruh Ganal ceremony, an expression of gratitude (to the Almighty) after harvesting. “It is taboo for us to enjoy the crops before this ceremony is executed,” said Demang Udes (75), Kamawakan’s elder. Men prepared the ritual, women cooked for the guests.
Kids and teenagers played with their cell phones and game-watches; laughing loudly. In that solitary jungle, where cell phone’s signal does not even exist, this is such a unique phenomenon. Exactly before 9 p.m., the meals were served; the guests began dining. Chicken curry and fried bean, cigarettes were served – children were even smoking too. After dining, before beginning the ceremony, they sit under bunches of janur. Demang Udes began murmuring spells above piled up offerings previously prepared.
Spells murmured in Dayaknese, gendang drumbeat rhyming; executing a magical atmosphere. This, then, was the time for men to get into it; circling bunches of janur one by one until the sun rose. While modernization begins attacking wilderness, Dayak Meratus people, living in South Hulu Sungai regency, South Kalimantan, are in efforts of struggling for keeping their tradition alive.
