Following a path, after five minutes’ walk from the custodian’s office, one crosses a narrow bridge over the Ci Pamijahan river. Passing through a small gate, the path leads to a small hill, on top of which the shrine is located. At the foot of the hill, taps and showers (pancuran) are used for ablutions (wudu). Half way along the pathway, there are also bathing facilities and toilets for visitors who wish to stay for a longer time. From the foot of the hill visitors can walk up the pathway to where the shrine is located.
Approaching the shrine, there is another, smaller kaca-kaca decorated with calligraphy, giving the name of the wali buried there. This calligraphy has been modified and is now different from what was reported by Rinkes (1909). In changing the inscription, the custodians have ignored criticism from the so-called modernists, namely members of Persis and Muhammadiyah, who have made the accusation that Pamijahan is a ‘pamujaan’ or a place for worshipping something other than God. The custodians have removed the previous calligraphy and replaced it with an Indonesian phrase reminding visitors to perform pilgrimage based on Islamic teaching.
The shrine itself is built in a quadrangle, about 18 metres square. The building has three main rooms, separated by walls, each room being connected by a door which is open at all times except for the door connected to the main gravesite, the makom itself. The grave of the Wali occupies a small room.
The first room is called the place for pilgrims (tempat nu ziarah) and is used by visitors to recite the Quran. Pilgrims may also use it to recite particular formulaic chants (amalan) given by the custodian, or they may do their own reading there. Pilgrims usually rest there too. Before entering the second room, there is another room called the first place for pilgrimage (tempat penziarahan pertama). Here are buried three of Shaykh Abdul Muhyi’s wives, his son and his famous aristocratic follower from Sukapura, Subamanggala. Ironically, although Sembah Abdullah, Shaykh Abdul Muhyi’s son and his successor as leader of the Shattariyyah order, is buried here, only a few visitors pay their respects at his tomb. Subamanggala, the nobleman from Sukapura, buried in the east corner of the shrine, also receives little interest from visitors. His family have even put an aristocratic symbol, an umbrella (payung) on the top of the grave to catch visitors’ attention, but it does not appear to add to its sacredness.
The second room, called the tawassul room, is often used for the main ritual, which is performed by visitors under the guidance of a kuncen. Visitors and the custodian sit around the makom. There is a shelf for making offerings or for putting perfume, incense, and other materials to be blessed. Visitors are forbidden to rest or sleep in this second room because visitors are always coming in and out. The third room is the interior of the makom area. In this area, there is a grave which is topped by a canopy made from white cotton cloth (kulambu). The grave (paesan) of Shaykh Abdul Muhyi is marked by a tombstone (tetengger). Timber logs extend along each side of the grave. Unlike many other sacred places in Java, Shaykh Abdul Muhyi’s tomb does not have a permanent superstructure, or paesan/cungkup made from concrete or stones. These features to some extent represent an orthodox view regarding the structure of Moslem tombs, which can also be found at the Prophet Muhammad’s tomb. According to the villagers, it is not compulsory to build a permanent paesan because it will burden the dead.[5]
The grave of Shaykh Abdul Muhyi is five metres by five metres in area. It is surrounded by a canopy of white cloth which is attached to a frame made from wooden boards. An 8.7 metre length concrete wall encircles the paesan, also covered by the white cloth, kulambu. Between the grave (paesan) and this wall, there is also a space about a metre in width where Shaykh Abdul Muhyi’s close family can perform their rituals personally.
The second biggest hamlet in Pamijahan is Panyalahan. Here there is a second important tomb called the Makom Shaykh Khatib Muwahid.
Shaykh Khatib Muwahid married Shaykh Abdul Muhyi’s sister Sembah Kudrat. The old custodian in Panyalahan recounts that Shaykh Khatib is also called Shaykh Sembah Abd al-Kedu or Shaykh Abdul from Kedu. He was of Javanese origin and was a follower of Shaykh Abdul Muhyi’s teaching. Local narratives also recount that Shaykh Khatib Muwahid was Shaykh Abdul Muhyi’s closest companion, who used to teach the master’s pupils. Panyalahan custodians say that Khatib Muwahid means ‘the best teacher’ (ìn Arabic, khatib, ‘teacher’; muwahid ‘one’, or, ‘the first’). Therefore, his tomb is famous among students of Islam (santri) who want to study the Holy Qur’an and books of interpretation and commentary (kitab).
Approaching the tomb from the cave to the north, one passes first through the hamlet of Panyalahan then walks to the western part of Panyalahan through paddy fields. Shaykh Khatib Muwahid is buried in the foothills, surrounded by stands of mahogany trees. Approaching the tomb, one passes through another gate (kaca-kaca) on the pillars of which are written the name of the holy man. Before entering the shrine, one should make ablutions from a water fountain at the right, close to the gate. The shrine has two main spaces. The first is a place for offerings (tempat nu ziarah) and the second in the centre is the makom (the grave) which is enclosed by a concrete frame. Unlike the Makom Shaykh Abdul Muhyi, visitors can clearly see the holy man’s tomb through spaces in the frame.
According to the custodian of Panyalahan, only ten percent of pilgrims coming to Shaykh Abdul Muhyi’s shrine continue their pilgrimage on to Panyalahan. From the point of view of the Pamijahanese, it is not compulsory to perform pilgrimage at this site. Villagers from Kampung Pamijahan (the centre) say that Shaykh Khatib Muwahid settled in the wrong place, and that is why they call it the wrong place or Panyalahan.[6] Another legend has it that Shaykh Khatib Muwahid did not obey Shaykh Abdul Muhyi’s instructions perfectly. Indeed, there is significant evidence of the villagers’ different interpretations of this.
The Panyalahanese tend to avoid the name Panyalahan due to its negative connotations. According to them, the name is associated with two narratives. The first is a local narrative regarding the origin of the village and the second is a local history regarding a Dutch map-making excursion which was confounded by the topography of the area.
According to the Panyalahanese, there was once a peasant couple who lived in this place. They were the only farmers in the area. They had some domesticated animals, one of which was a tiger. After several years, they found more happiness in their lives after they had a baby. They worked harder than before so that they achieved bumper harvests in every season. If they went to the paddy field, the tiger cared for their baby. One day, they found the tiger waiting at the gate with blood on his teeth. The farmer was very angry. He said, “You cursed animal! I cared for you but you seized my baby in your jaws.” The farmer then pulled out his machete (bedog) and said, “This is your punishment, and blood must be repaid by blood.” He struck the tiger which died instantly.
When they entered their hut, they found the baby still alive with a dead poisonous snake around its neck. They realised that the tiger had saved their son from the snake. After that, the place was called Panyalahan or ‘the place of the wrong guess’.
The second narrative relates to the theme of the coming of the Dutch. According to the custodian of Panyalahan, the Dutch came to their village for the purpose of making a map. With some followers, they made several coordinates on the map associated with the rivers which cross the village. After they had finished drawing the lines on their new map, they tried to match it to the real situation. However, they found that they could never find the same pattern that had been drawn on their map. Indeed, they were unable to identify two similar rivers which crossed the village. They had put only one river in their map. Therefore, that, according to the villagers, is why the Dutch called it the ‘place of unknown coordinates’ or panyalahan.
The villagers have yet another legend. According to them, their village was often used by Shaykh Abdul Muhyi and his companion to solve problems (masalah) regarding how to convert the pagans around them. According the custodian, the original name for their kampung was Pamasalahan (‘the place for problem solving’). So, instead of using the name Panyalahan they prefer to use Pamasalahan, the name which appears in their later narratives. These days there is a Pamasalahan Mosque, a Pamasalahan Primary School and a Pamasalahan hamlet. Ironically, the name of Panyalahan is already recorded in government archives and they cannot remove it. Later in the chapter we shall return to the effort of the people of Panyalahan/Pamasalahan to create their own tradition, something difficult to do since Pamijahan possesses the dominant sacred symbols.
The Wali is the centre and his friends and relatives (qaraba) are the second and third rings of the landscape. Panyalahan lies within the second ring in village culture because the village founder was the brother-in-law of the Wali. Thus, the Panyalahanese do not have access to the custodianship of the saint’s shrine. This situation creates resentment in Panyalahan, especially as the number of pilgrims who come to this shrine continues to increase.
Yudanagara was a brother-in-law of Abdul Muhyi. Yudanagara’s tomb is situated within Kampung Pamijahan but outside the non-smoking area. Some visitors continue their pilgrimage to this tomb to perform a fast in which their intake of food is restricted to rice or non-coloured foods and beverages, mainly cassava and water. This ascetic practice is called tirakat or mutih. Some pilgrims believe that Yudanagara is the right hand of Muhyi in spiritual power. This is reflected in his name. Yuda means ‘war’ and nagara means ‘the state’. Yudanagara then is a figure who has both spiritual power in war and is a guardian of the state.
Even though the place is relatively close to the shrine and the non-smoking area, the custodians in the non-smoking area do not manage the site.
The fourth sacred site is the grave of Shaykh Abdulqohar in Kampung Pandawa. This site is situated in the northern part of Desa Pamijahan. The Pandawa tomb is another example of how a marginal sacred site has tried with affiliate to Shaykh Abdul Muhyi’s tomb. Rinkes reported that Shaykh Abdulqohar was the brother of Muhyi, but the Pamijahanese themselves never claim this. Neither does the custodian of the Pandawa tomb, who describes Shaykh Abdulqohar simply as Shaykh Abdul Muhyi’s companion. According to the Pandawa custodian, Shaykh Abd Abdulqohar was Abdul Muhyi’s closest companion not Shaykh Khatib Muwahid or Yudanagara. He was the right hand of Muhyi.
From the above it seems to me that the number of related sacred tombs is limited to the number of figures classified as the founders of the villages even though two of them, Yudanagara and Pandawa, do not have a blood relationship with Shaykh Abdul Muhyi.