Journey into the forbidden Land of the Baduy

Living just around 60 kilometers from bustling metropolis Jakarta and only 30 kilometers from the nearest town of Rangkas Bitung, Baduy people persist in their ancient lifestyle that practically rejects everything that does not come from the nature in a natural way. Travoo’s journalist Delly Chaniago had a rare opportunity to visit the community and wrote his experiences in the following story.

It was 08:30 a.m. I, together with 75 students of the Bogor-based Institute of Agriculture (IPB), who were on a cultural excursion to the Baduy Community, left for Cibeo village, Rangkas Bitung, where the Baduy people live.

After three hours of journey via toll road, passing by several towns including Leuwiliang and Cibungbulang, we finally arrived in the town of Rangkas Bitung at 11:30 a.m. We decided to take our lunch there because it would still take us three hours to reach our destination. Immediately after lunch, we resumed our trip. Since the road leading to Ciboleger village was so narrow, we had to transfer to smaller cars that could accommodate only 12 people each.

The trip was smooth for the first one hour only. The next hours were rather difficult because we had to pass through narrower road, with many loopholes and sharp turns.

We arrived at Ciboleger at 2:30pm. Although Ciboleger village does not belong to Baduy territory, we could feel the Baduy presence in that village as reflected in the display of Baduy hand-made products such as bags, hats, and rings, which were for sale. The prices of those products vary from Rp1,000 to Rp30,000 per item.

We took a rest for a moment in Ciboleger to regain our strengths for the next trip. However, some members of the group seemed to ignore their fatigue by observing Baduy hand-made products, while others were resting in the nearest warung, Indonesian traditional canteen.

We rested for about one and a half-hour before continuing our trip on foot to Balimbing, the first village of Baduy community. The landscape leading to Balimbing is practically flat with thick forest covering the whole scenery. The stone steps constructed along the path leading to Baduy land made our journey a lot easier.

At around 4:30 p.m., we arrived in Balimbing village, which constitutes the first Baduy village that we encountered.

The Outer Baduy

Entering Balimbing village, I did not see too much difference in atmosphere with other villages in West Java. It made me disappointed because I had expected a stark contrast in atmosphere between the Baduy villages and other villages outside the Baduy community.

As I walked further into the village, I started to notice that all constructions in the village are made of bamboos, and there are no houses that are made of concrete material. Perhaps, the absence of concrete houses is one of the elements that still distinguishes Balimbing village as the home of Baduy people from non-Baduy villages.

However, I also noticed that the Baduy in Balimbing have used nails in their construction. To my surprise, the sound of music from radio was also heard from some houses, revealing the penetration of modern world in the community. Is Baduy community no longer a unique community? I asked myself.

I soon realized that Balimbing village belongs to one strand of Baduy community called the Outer Baduy. As a matter of fact, the onslaught of modernization in West Java has managed to split the Baduy community into two groups, namely Baduy Dalam or the Inner Baduy and Baduy Luar or the Outer Baduy.

The Inner Baduy is the group that continues to maintain their tradition in the purest form, while the Baduy Luar or the Outer Baduy is a group of Baduy that has tolerated the infiltration of modern goods such as nails, radio, shoes and engine-driven vehicles to a certain degree in their community.

Currently, the Outer Baduy has nine villages and the number is predicted to grow along with the increase of Baduy population.

We wanted to move further into Inner Baduy territory but the time forced us to take a break. It was 17:30 pm in Balimbing, and the night had slowly crept in, covering our surrounding with darkness. We decided to stay overnight in one house of an Outer Baduy family.

Indeed, the night in Balimbing was too dark because the village had no electricity because the electricity still constitutes one of modern products that are still banned by this community. Consequently, the only light that flickered amidst the darkness was the flame of bamboo torches commonly used by the community.

This ban on electricity still reveals that though the Outer Baduy people have opened themselves to modern world’s influence, but they are still partly resistance to greater influence of the outside world that may undermine their identity as Baduy people.

At around 06.00 a.m in the following morning, we woke up from our sweet dream. Our group leader, Linda, briefed us about the next journey to Cibeo, the Inner Baduy Land.

"The next journey is going to be harder than our trip before. We will walk for about three to four hours. If you think, you are not in good condition. I suggest that you will not continue the trip and stay here," she said.

Some of us still looked tired, but they did not want to stay because having the chance to visit the Inner Baduy land is indeed a rare opportunity.

After walking for several minutes from the place where we stayed overnight, we were passing a bamboo bridge, just near the house of the Pu’un, the village chief.

Joko, our guide, told us to be careful in taking picture. "If you want to take picture, don’t let the Pu’un house appear in your photo. Because it is forbidden and there is a fine for that if you break the rule," he said without giving details about the fine.

Pu’un is an inherited position, and therefore the position is passed from a father to his son and so on. Pu’un is a religious and political leader, and also the judge in community court. In other words, he is the supreme leader, who decides mundane up to religious matters, in the Baduy community.

Although we had walked several kilometers into the land of the Outer Baduy, we did not see any rice field both inside and outside the villages. Strangely, we saw some leuit, which constitutes a barn to store paddy. They are built on top of approximately three-meter stakes. But where are the rice fields?

According to Joko, Baduy people do not plant rice in rice fields but in farms. Without applying fertilizer on the ground, the Baduy people rely on God for the fertility of their farms.

After walking for two hours, we arrived at another Bamboo Bridge connecting Baduy luar and Baduy dalam. The 5-meter long bridge would bring us deeper into the secret world of the Baduy.

"Please bear in mind that we are now in the Inner Baduy area. So, keep your camera off," Joko told us.

Although we had walked for several kilometers from the last Bamboo Bridge, we had not encountered a single Inner Baduy village.

The Inner Baduy

Finally, to our joy, we saw a hut, which becomes an encouraging sign that a village was already very near. Around the hut, we saw the first Inner Baduy people, Samiun and his parents. Samiun was a thin man at the age of 25 years old. He wore black and white clothes combination just like other Inner Baduy people’s daily clothes.

Samiun and his parents were enjoying their lunch, when we arrived in the hut. He gladly welcomed us and offered us to join him in the lunch. He gave us full Baduy lunch, boiled cassavas and warm water.

After finishing our lunch, Samiun accompanied us to Cibeo, his village, which is thirty-minute walk from the barn. As we entered the village, people soon kept their distance from us, especially the women. According to Samiun, they were too shy to meet strangers.

Like many other Baduy people, Samiun proves to be a friendly host. After introducing us to his wife and child, he offered us special Baduy banana called pisang gimblug.

"This is the first village of Inner Baduy. There are two other Inner Baduy villages near here, namely Cikertawana and Cikeusik,” Samiun said about his village. If the Outer Baduy people have a total of nine villages, the Inner Baduy only have three.

In Cibeo, I could see clearly the difference between the Inner Baduy and the Outer Baduy. The Inner Baduy men wear white and black combination, namely Samping or black pants, white shirt, and white headband called telekung. Meanwhile, the women wore entirely black clothes, called Samping hideung, and earring called gombel.

Compared to the Inner Baduy, The Outer Baduy is more relaxed in following this dress code. Some of the Outer Baduy people already wear t-shirts, blue jeans, shoes and sandals, which are strictly forbidden for the Inner Baduy.

Even though the architecture of houses of the Inner and Outer Baduy groups has no difference, but the difference between the houses of the Inner Baduy and that of the Outer Baduy lays in the construction materials, in which the Inner Baduy avoids the use of modern products such as nails and wires, while the Outer Baduy already accepted those products as part of construction materials.

Explaining about Inner Baduy family, Samiun said that Baduy parents are responsible for selecting their children’s wives and husbands. The parents also decide at what age their children can get married. Divorce is strictly prohibited for Inner Baduy.

He also revealed that when Inner Baduy people take a bath, they avoid using factory-made and machine-made soap. Instead, they rub their bodies with stones. For tooth brushing, the Baduy people use coconut fiber to clean their teeth.

The Inner Baduy’s resistance to outside influences may stem from their philosophy of life that is based on their respect for nature as reflected in their saying “Gunung teu meunang dilebur Lebak teu meunang dirusak”, which means the mountain may not be flatted, the land may not be destroyed.

Other important Baduy saying is Sasaka teu meunang dirempak, meaning the Holy Land may not be spoiled. Based on this philosophy, the Inner Baduy people protect their land by strictly banning the use of modern things, which are perceived as being harmful to the nature.

This philosophy is then crystallized and nurtured in the Baduy’s religion called Sunda Wiwitan that becomes the spirit of all Baduy’s wisdom and actions. Both the Inner and Outer Baduy communites are adherents to this religion, although the two communities have different ways of living it out.

"Every three years we celebrate Kawalu (like Idul Fitri in Islam and Christmas in Christianity), our holiday," Samiun said.

Engine-driven vehicles such as cars and busses are taboo for Inner Baduy. Consequently, when they travel even to Jakarta, they do it on foot.

"We are not allowed to take vehicles to go to towns. We will get fined, if we break the rule. Even though we do far away from our village, our Pu’un will know," Samiun said.

Though still a closed community, today, the Inner Baduy can accept visitors. However, all visitors must first ask the permission from Jarok, traditional Baduy security officer, if they want to stay overnight in Baduy land.

Usually, Jarok only gives visitors a maximum of two-night stay in Inner Baduy area, and this permission is only for Indonesians, not foreigners because as of now, they are still closed to foreign tourists.

After spending some hours in Inner Baduy village of Cibeo, we decided to return to Bogor. We left the Inner Baduy land around 2 pm, leading to Balimbing, Ciboleger, and to Bogor.

Visiting Baduy land is like a journey into the past, which taught me the wisdom of our ancestors. While most modern people are preoccupied with the business of exploiting the earth in the name of ‘development’ and ‘progress’, the Baduy people open my eyes that there is another way of life that is badly needed by modern society, namely the way of life that values harmony and friendship with nature.