I am grateful to the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia for its funding through a scholarship awarded by AIDAB, the Australian International Development Assistance Bureau. AIDAB and AUSAID officers of the ACT Regional Office in Canberra, Mrs Alicia Curtis and Mrs Lynn Tohey gave me full support during my bridging programmes, courses and fieldwork.

The Australian National University in Canberra is a foremost institution for Southeast Asian Studies. It has a strong appreciation of the cultures of the region, an excellent collection of materials, a collegial atmosphere and the largest number of scholars working on the area.

Professor Virginia Hooker of the Southeast Asia Centre, Faculty of Asian Studies, ANU provided me with invaluable support throughout my studies. This thesis is due to her initiative and her encouragement. She responded enthusiastically to the rare prospect of research in Sundanese, sparing no effort to make me welcome. Her knowledge of manuscripts in many regions of Nusantara was soon to shape my perception of the written materials of rural Java.

On her recommendation, my study was transferred from the degree of Master by research to PhD in 1997. Professor Hooker, or Ibu Nia as Indonesian students now call her, provided me with facilities beyond the norm for students in course work. She gave me access to her personal library. She also wrote me a letter, a surat cap of recommendation which allowed me to carry out research in the library of the Rijksuniversiteit in Leiden in 1996. When in the middle of 2002 she reminded me to finalise my thesis, again a surat cap from her enabled me to obtain a travel grant from the Yayasan Naskah Nusantara and permission for leave from the administrator in the Faculty of Humanities, University of Indonesia. Her surat cap was also useful when I arrived in Sydney Airport on the day after the tragic and barbaric Bali bombing. It was her letter that permitted me to make an easy re-entry to Australia at a moment when this might have been difficult for an Indonesian studying rural Islam.

Professor Dr James J. Fox, Director of the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, ANU and Dr George Quinn, Head of the Southeast Asia Centre, Faculty of Asian Studies, ANU tirelessly helped me bring my research to a conclusion. In this respect, Jim Fox opened perspectives on the concept of ‘living manuscripts’ before I went to the field. His knowledge and expertise in Indonesian-Austronesian culture has been recognised by Indonesian students and researchers with another ‘professional title’, Pak Jim. Close to the deadline of my studies, Pak Jim gave invaluable support in commenting on my thesis drafts and allowing me to use his personal office and library in the ‘labyrinth’ of the Coombs building. Before I realised it, I had one foot in cultural anthropology. Before I came to The Faculty of Asian Studies, ANU, I had been trained in literary theory and philology, but after undertaking a reading course in the Anthropology of Islam, in his office, I entered a delicate area in the study of culture.

Dr George Quinn is another prominent scholar at the Australian National University, also given the title of ‘Pak’ by Indonesian students. He has shared his strong insights into the sociology of Indonesian traditional literatures and culture in general. His work on Javanese literature is well known in the Faculty of Letters of the University of Indonesia. He was willing to make a ‘pilgrimage’ to my field site in Pamijahan, West Java. During his visit we had many valuable on-site discussions. His careful supervision and reading of my drafts brought my thesis to finalisation. He even convinced me that I would submit it on time! I also learned much about diligence and optimism from Pak George. His deep knowledge of sacred sites in Javanese culture was stimulating and inspiring.

I have especially appreciated the companionship of Indonesian colleagues also studying at ANU: Dr. Philipus Tule, Dr. A.G. Muhaimin, Dr. Jamhari Makruf, Dr. Dedi Adhuri, Mr. Hidayat al-Hamid and Mr. Yudhi Latif. They were the best sparring partners in discussing culture and Islam in Canberra. I am also indebted to Dr Minako Sakai of the University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy who involved me in her Indonesian Teaching Project when I needed financial support for daily expenses.

It should be noted that I was also supported financially by The Ford Foundation, Jakarta in my library research at the Rijksuniversiteit Leiden in 1996. Dr Mary Zurburchen and Dr Jennifer Lindsay, respectively Director and Officer of the Ford Foundation, gave significant help. The travel grant given by the Ford Foundation Jakarta was made possible through the recommendation of Prof. Dr. Achadiati Ikram and Dr. Tety MPSS of Masyarakat Naskah Nusantara and Asosiasi Tradisi Lisan. Finally, in 2002, Prof. Dr. Achadiati Ikram, my guru in philology, through her NGO, Yayasan Naskah Nusantara provided me with another travel grant to finalise my thesis in Canberra.

My closest friends in Australia, Dr. Wendy Mukherjee and Dr. Christine Campbell of the Southeast Asia Centre gave their best efforts to correct my English style. In my early communications with ANU Wendy encouraged me with information on Sundanese holdings in the libraries in Canberra. Her work on Sundanese literature gave me the perspective to think of the importance of Sunda as a cultural category. Sunda was already for her a ‘pilgrimage destination’, and in 2000 she too visited my field site in Pamijahan.

The people of Pamijahan, Panyalahan and Karangnunggal at large, deserve my sincere expression of thanks. I owe particular debt of gratitude to Pak Kuncen, Ajengan Endang, Pak Beben, and Pak Undang, who willingly devoted so much time to talk with me.

Finally, to thanks Suherti and Nabeela, the two most beautiful women in my life, who realise that a PhD thesis does not just need ‘stamina’ but also ‘imagination’. They were there all the time.

Above all, HE says “All signs are placed in the world for those who understand” (Al-Qur’an).