Priests defy volcano hiking ban
NONGAN: Indonesian authorities have banned activities like hiking within a certain radius of Bali’s Mt Agung volcano, as it shows signs of an imminent eruption, but some Hindu priests defied the bans over the weekend, attracting both criticism and support.
Jero Mangku Kari, one of the priests, said when they climbed barefoot to its top on Friday, their only intention was to pray for the safety of nearby villagers.
The 67-year-old priest and his nephew, Jero Mangku Ado, 41, went up the volcano early in the morning and came down in the afternoon.
On the mountaintop, they coincidentally met two other Hindu priests — an uncle and a nephew from another temple on the slopes of the volcano.
“We climbed up to pray, asking for God to protect the people living on the slopes of Mt Agung and its surrounding areas and to forgive us for having made a lot of mistakes,” Mr Kari said in an interview at an evacuation centre in the village of Nongan, about 13km from the volcano’s crater.
“I prayed at the peak because it’s closer to God,” he added.
The government raised the status of Mt Agung to top alert on Sept 22 after it had showed increasing activities.
It also declared a radius of 9km from the peak and 12km from the peak in certain parts of the volcano’s slopes as dangerous zones.
The priests’ decision to climb the volcano immediately attracted both support and criticism, particularly after they posted photos of themselves on the peak, as well as the video of the steaming crater, on Facebook.
“The smoke was white, while the water inside the caldera was yellow with a strong smell; people say it was sulphur,” Mr Kari said in describing the steaming crater.
While some supported their action, others thought they were only looking for sensation and accused them of being irresponsible because it might encourage others to do likewise.
A day after their climb, Mr Kari received a telephone call from a local military chief, asking him not to do it again. On Tuesday, the photos and video disappeared from the Facebook account.
Living in the village of Temukus, about 3km from the crater, Mr Kari carries a position as mangku gede, or the highest Hindu priest, at nearby Tunggul Besi Temple.
Hindu priests, who are determined by bloodline in Balinese Hindu tradition, are very respected on the island.
They carry out their duties without payment and dedicate their entire lives for the spiritual health of their followers and their words are more listened than any government officials’ voices.
“Life and death is not determined by humans, but by God. God decides when you are born and when you die,” Mr Kari explained when asked whether he was not afraid to die for breaching the dangerous line determined by the government.
“But if I have to die, I am willing to as long as it is for the goodness of the people. I am willing to sacrifice myself as long as the people living on the slopes and around Mt Agung are safe,” the priest added.
The priest, who earns a living as an Edelweiss farmer, once experienced Mt Agung’s sudden eruption in 1963 when he was three years old.
“Flames were seen from the peak that spewed hot lava,” he said.