In the villagers’ view, all visitors who come to Kangjeng Shaykh’s tomb, whatever their motives are the guests of the holy man (tamu Wali). The custodian categorises pilgrims primarily based on the way they perform rituals, though their motives are also taken into account. However, it is difficult for the custodian to identify the purpose of all visitors.

Pilgrimage is mostly carried out as a personal ritual. For example, Karna, a pilgrim, confessed that he did not explicitly tell the custodian his aim. Karna ran a business in Jakarta. His was business went bankrupt and he had to make repayments to investors. However, he reported to the custodian as only ‘making a visit’ or ‘bade ziarah’. Deden, another visitor, came to Pamijahan to solve his marriage problem. His wife had asked for a divorce but Ridden still loved her. He said to the custodian that he came “To find a quiet place”, or milari katenangan. One staff member said to me that it is not compulsory to know explicitly what the intentions are for pilgrimage are. He believes that pilgrims generally have particular intentions, or gaduh pamaksadan. In some cases, pilgrims visit the shrine due to an assignment from their teacher.

There are various categories of pilgrims based on their behaviour. The first category is the ordinary visitor, or nu ziarah biasa. The ordinary pilgrims (nu ziarah biasa) are weekenders who come to Pamijahan not only for ziarah but also for spiritual refreshment. They come in groups of one to four luxurious buses. Pamijahan’s fresh air and green scenery offer an attractive atmosphere for those who work in polluted cities such as Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, and other big cities of Java. They often rent houses for the night, including meals. Before returning home, they often buy various local product as souvenir gifts.

Visitors like this have become the main source of income for local residents. In the peak season, villagers are able to sell more gifts. One villager says that she gets an extra five thousand hundred rupiah a month. This amount is equal to a high school teacher’s monthly salary. Moreover, villagers also get money from visitors who stay in their houses. Villagers charge them from one to five thousand rupiah a night including food. This type of visitor is in the majority of pilgrims in peak seasons such as Mulud and Rajab. They come from various places in Java. The flow of pilgrims has been influenced by the development of road networks in Tasikmalaya. Remoteness is no longer a problem since Pamijahan is now accessible to all vehicles. Moreover, Pamijahan has been set up as one of the targets of a pilgrimage network in Java by various organisers. Some organisers have linked Pamijahan with other established pilgrimage destinations such as those in Gresik, Cirebon, and Banten.

Another characteristic of nu ziarah biasa is that they may be able to perform rituals but they do not perform any additional ritual after the main ritual (tawassul). They only make a short visit to the tomb, go to the cave and return home. Therefore, it is possible that the custodian also classifies someone who can perform prayer and intermediary ritual at another tomb as nu ziarah biasa when they do not understand the particular sequence for Pamijahan. The pilgrims usually believe that each place has its own sequence and set of rules or tali paranti. In this case, pilgrims actually recognise the local custom and the custodian ‘s authority. The custodian calls them nu ziarah biasa as long as they do not carry out other specific rituals and only perform the standard ritual that he suggests. Also slassified as ordinary visitors are nu awam who are unable to perform rituals and need guidance.

Second categories of pilgrim are those who mastered visitation to sacred tombs. Belonging to this category, are the specialists such as Muslim leaders (ajengan), pupil at pesantre schools (santri), teacher and klerik (kiai), and expert in Islam (akhli hikmah), as well asp people who want to obtain particular knowledge (ngelmu) and those seeking solutions for their problems (nu gaduh pamaksadan). Like ordinary visitors, they also report to the custodian and give some money. This is not in return for guidance but out of charity, which is relied on to regularly maintain the shrine. After registration, they visit tomb alone or with their followers. Such visitors claim that they have often come to Pamijahan before. They perform their own tawassul and other additional rituals. Belonging to this type, for example, is Haji Hassan from Bekasi. For Haji Hassan such a pilgrimage is his and good deed. He carries out tawassul by himself and for his followers. He has a boarding school (pesantren) and a travel company, which assists anyone who wants to go (ngumbra) on the lesser pilgrimage to Mecca. According to him, he and his followers regularly come to Pamijahan at least once a year. When I met him on 21 July 1996, he had brought with him 60 followers. His followers were charged for transport and accommodation. They usually spend only one hour or a night at the shrine but the custodian believes that pilgrims like this can communicate with the wali effectively. Staff (kuncen) said that one ajengan from Manonjaya Tasikmalaya had met Kangjeng Shaykh face to face in the cave. This ajengan only made a short visit but he was able to communicate with Kangjeng Shaykh.

Some ordinary pilgrims perform an additional ritual such as fasting (tirakat) or practice austerity (tapa). I found about twenty pilgrims who spent forty days doing tirakat near the tomb during the period of Safar and Mulud in 1996. An example of this type is Karjo, 27, from Cirebon. When I found him at the corner of the shrine, he had been staying for 25 days. Karjo is a santri. According to him, he came to Pamijahan for tabaruk is gain blessing. Tabaruk is well known in Sufi rituals (see Chapter 8). His guru suggested that he stay at the shrine for 41 days. During this period he had to fast and only eat rice and drink water when he broke his fast. Mostly he spent his time doing tawassul and dhikir at the shrine. Such individuals will leave after they obtain some sign from Kangjeng Shaykh. Mostly they stay in a corner of the shrine. They only go outside to take a bath or find some food. Some of them were able to make personal connections with the villagers. When villagers performed salametan, they were often invited.

The sacred cave is the second most popular site after the Shaykh’s tomb among visitors who want to seek spiritual power by tapa and tirakat. An example of this type of pilgrim (Satrio) is a man who has been staying and doing, tapa, there for almost two years. He will complete his visitation in 2000. He has made his own hut (saung) near the sacred cave.

The reasons for which pilgrims come are varied. It is difficult to identify their intentions without detailed interviews with them. In Pamijahan, pilgrims tend to describe their intentions in general terms; that is, as bade ziarah. Of course, there are some pilgrims who state their intentions in detail, but it is often a particular request to the custodian, which is made personally by visitors at the tomb when the ritual is about to start. In other places, such as in Tembayat or in Cirebon, it is common to answer the custodian more explicitly in the ritual jawab during the first stage.

Based on my interviews with pilgrims, I found that their motivations and intentions (pamaksadan) usually concerned personal wellbeing. Such an intentions are also common at other sacred sites in Java. One shrimp farmer (Munir, 39) from Lampung Sumatra is an example of this type of pilgrim. When I met him, he had already spent eleven days at the shrines. According to his guru, he had to stay there for at least fourteen days. It is common among the specialists to consult their guru first before going to sacred sites. Munir had a problem with his shrimp ponds (udang). Almost twice a season he had been unable to harvest his shrimps. The shrimps either died before harvesting or were swept away by the waves. He stated that until a couple of years ago he regularly came to Pamijahan before he put the shrimp into the pond. According to him, he always got a good harvest (panen). After that, he stopped coming to Pamijahan. Thereafter, predators easily attacked his shrimp. So he decided to ziarah. After he had spent fourteen days, he returned to Lampung with holy water, which he sprinkled onto his ponds.

Pamijahan is indeed popular among farmers like Munir. It is not surprising that Pamijahan is often associated with fertilisation, as suggested by the name for the village. Pamijahan means a “hatching place” where something always doubles, triples, and so on. Visitors who seek fertility for their paddy fields or sawah include paddy farmers from Indramayu who frequently make visitations to the shrine and bring gifts to the custodian and his family after they harvest their paddy.