FOUNDER Indonesian Hidden Heritage community (IHH), Any Septiani, just took a trip to the Gunung Padang Site in Cianjur, West Java. It and 3 other colleagues guide more than 20 community members who took their trip with them.
The success of the community that cares about Indonesian culture and history is intriguing Traveldiva.id to explore the attractiveness of the Gunung Padang Site from him. The following are the results of the interview Traveldiva.id with Any.
Can you tell us what the attraction of this site is until you managed to invite dozens of community members there?
This site is believed to be a relic of the oldest civilization in the world (10.000 SM). This was revealed from a report presented at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in Washington DC December 2018. The first report on the existence of this site was published in Rapporten van de Oudheidkundige Dienst (Antiquities Service Bulletin) year 1914.
Dutch historian, N. J. Except, has also offended him in years 1949. This site had a chance “forgotten”. However in the year 1979 three local residents namely Endi, Soma, and Abidin, report to Edi, Campaka District Cultural Inspector, regarding the existence of a pile of large rectangular stones of various sizes arranged in a place with steps leading to Mount Gede.
So this site is older than the pyramids in Egypt and other Megalithic cultural relics in the world and the largest in Southeast Asia.. That's why many are interested in visiting it.
How long will it take to reach the Gunung Padang Site from Jakarta?
Total trip over 9 jam, we left at the hour 07.45 WIB. Arrive at the parking lot at the hour 16.45 WIB, with two rest stops, eat and pray around 1 jam. Then proceed by taking an ojek around 15 minute.
Why was it that long? Normally, how much time was spent on the trip?
Along with the long holiday school children seem to be causing traffic jams along the way to the site. Normally, sites can be reached in time 5 jam.
How many hours of time are spent enjoying the beauty of the Gunung Padang Site?
We spent over 1 hours because it was already before sunset when we arrived at the highest terrace of the site. So it is not possible to browse the Site in dark conditions. Because there is no lighting in the site area. There is only lighting at several points along the stairs to get off the site.
What are the activities that tourists can do during their trip there?
Listen to the explanation from the site maintainer, immortalize its natural beauty through photos or videos and perform religious rituals. Since ancient times, the Gunung Padang Site was believed to be a place of worship so that many tourists from various religions and beliefs carry out the ritual of praying to the Creator there.. This site is also open 24 hours so it can be visited for those who want to perform rituals at night.
While we were exploring the site there was also a group of tourists doing a ritual praying to the Creator. So that the site maintainer must lower the volume of his voice so as not to disturb the group.
According to you, the site is well maintained. Can describe the condition of the building, Street, the cleanliness and facilities that are there to Travel Diva?
The site is well maintained because there are already artificial stairs that are not as steep as the original stairs. Toilet facilities and prayer rooms are in the parking lot and their cleanliness is well maintained.
Local residents have realized that the site has become a tourist attraction, so they provide ojek services for tourists who do not want to walk from the parking lot to the site or for tourists who want to go straight to the highest terrace..
In addition, residents also provide accommodation homestay for tourists who want to stay near the site.
In my opinion, there is one thing that can be improved, namely the development of original souvenirs from local residents. During the day there is only palm sugar sold as a souvenir.
What is the fondest memory you will get after visiting that site?
The most beautiful memory for me is that this site shows the many philosophies of local wisdom that the ancestors of the Indonesian nation had. The local community has been familiar with the Gunung Padang Site as a sacred place from generation to generation (sanctified place) because it has indeed functioned as a place of worship since prehistoric times or the Megalithic era.
As for the form of the site as a punden terraces or a place in stages consisting of 5 terrace where the highest place or the fifth terrace is the highest place as a symbol of a place very close to the Creator.
In addition to being a place of worship, The Gunung Padang site is also believed to be a place for deliberation to reach consensus and a place to perform ceremonies or offerings. The belief as a place for deliberation to reach consensus is indicated by the existence of a stone chair which is believed to be the seat of the leader at that time in leading a deliberation..
For this reason, it becomes the most beautiful memory for me how the ancestors of the Indonesian nation were so wisely integrated with nature and had such strong social interactions because they always put common interests in making decisions..
Apart from managing the Indonesian Hidden Heritage Community, what are your other activities?
I am one of the founders of a logistics company in Jakarta, namely ADDO Logistics, where I also served as CFO (Chief Financial Officer) at the company. Then I was also one of the founders of Sekecil Bravo, that is, a social movement which is a monthly charity movement channeled into matters that lack public attention.
And of course the IHH community was formed by Vlogal Indonesia Kepikenik where I am also one of the founders so I also have activities in Vlogal with friends who are involved in it.. (*)
