Mbah Maridjan’s son named Merapi gatekeeper

Mbah Maridjan’s son named Merapi gatekeeper
The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta | Tue, 04/05/2011 8:00 AM

YOGYAKARTA: The Yogyakarta administration has appointed Mas Lurah Suraksosihono, better known as Asih, to replace his father, Mbah Maridjan, as the spiritual guardian of Mount Merapi volcano.

The 44-year-old was inaugurated on Monday in a ceremony attended by 229 others who were also installed as officials of the Yogyakarta Sultanate.

“The guardian of Merapi should be a good role model for people and carry out his duties well,” Gusti Bendara Pangeran Harya Joyokusumo, a brother of Yogyakarta Sultan and Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, said on Monday as quoted by Antara news agency.

The newly installed officials were given letters of appointment from Hamengkubuwono in his role as sultan.

Asih, youngest of Maridjan’s three children, pledged an oath to be loyal to Hamengkubuwono as his carried out his work.

“I’m both happy and nervous because Merapi’s gatekeeper has a weighty job. I promise to be faithful to the mandate and to be careful in doing the job,” he said.

Maridjan was found dead at his house on the slopes of Merapi on Oct. 26, during a series of eruptions that killed more than 300 people.

He had refused to evacuate, telling a friend he could not leave because he had a responsibility.

“My time to die in this place has almost come, I can’t leave,” Maridjan reportedly said.

Thirteen other people trying to convince Maridjan to leave his home were also killed after the house was suddenly demolished by a pyroclastic flow.

Maridjan’s body was found in a praying position; he was thought to have been killed instantly by the 1,000-degree Celsius cloud of gas and ash. — JP