Part 9 - Different Types of Spirits Worshipped in Austroasean Belt

Hyang (Kawi, Wagoi, Sondini, and Palezi) is an invisible spiritual entity with an extraordinary power in ancient Indonesian mythology. This spirit can be divine or ancestral. The veneration of this spiritual entity is found in Sunda Wiwitan, Kejawen and Balinese Hinduism. In modern Indonesian, this term tends to be associated with gods or divatas or God. The kingdom in which Hyang Kahian lives is called. Now synonymous with Svarga or Paradise in modern Indonesian.^[1]

The term "hyang", which is now largely associated with Balinese Hinduism, has evolved in ancient Java and Bali for more than a thousand years. However, this term has an ancient origin, it finds its origin in the dynamic and vital beliefs of the peoples of Australia living in the Indonesian archipelago. Pre-Islamic Indonesians and Indonesians preached and valued the lives of ancestors. They also believed that some lives could inhabit certain places such as tall trees, stones, forests, mountains, or any other sacred place. The concept of "hyang" evolved in an original way in the archipelago and is not considered as a Dharmic hierarchy. Before the adoption of Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam, indigenous people in the Indonesian archipelago believed in strong but invisible spiritual entities that could be both good and sad. They also believed that the deceased's predecessor did not leave or completely disappeared. The spirit of the ancestors can acquire divine spiritual power and remain involved in the worldly affairs of their offspring. Therefore, worship and reverence for ancestors are an important part of the system of faith in indigenous ethnic groups, such as the Nias, Daique, Torraga and Papuan ethnic groups, as well as many ethnic groups in Indonesia.^[2]

In ancient Sudanese, Javanese and Balinese societies, this invisible spiritual entity is defined as "hyang". These Salafi divine spirits are thought to live in high places, such as mountains, hills and volcanoes. These mountainous regions are sacred worlds, as the home of the gods and the resting place of ancestors. In Sundanese, "nga-hyang" means "vanishing" or "invisible." It is suggested that the word "hyang" has a linguistic relationship with the Indonesian word "Heilang" which means "disappear". In its development, the term "hyang" is the key word for many terms that are still known and used in modern Indonesian: Forced. If the word "hyang" is attached to the Sang-prefix character, Dang-ra -to form the word Sanghyang, Danghyang or Rahyang, it aims to honor and reverence the deceased gods or ancestors. For example, Sri Sanghyang Pohaci and Sang Hyang Widhire turn to the gods, while the name embellished Rahyang Deva Niskala is the name of the late king of the kingdom of Sunda. The term Dangang or Danyang refers to the spirits of some holy or inhabited places. The name of the founder of the empire of Srivigaya, Dapunta Hyang Anka Jayanasa

Location—Kahyangan, from the word ka-hyang-an, is the kingdom where the frenzy is located. Due to the belief that hyangs prefer high places, some mountain areas are considered hyang in the house. For example, Parahyangan refers to the mountainous region of West Java. The words of the combined para-hyang-an; the paragraph indicates the plural, while referring to the subsequent -an place, so it means Parahyangan House hyangs. The term Parahiangan is also used as a type of temple of Bora or Balinese. Bora Parahyangan is a Bali temple located in a mountainous area as its counterpart Bora Cigara. The temple of Bali Island is located on the seashore and Ding Plateau in Central Java, also shares the same source, ie the words combined De-Hyang which also means "instead of Hyang."

Activity -The word sembahyang in Indonesian is synonymous with Islamic prayer rites. It actually comes from the common word sembah-hyang which means "worship of hyang". The sacred Bali dance of Sanjiang Didari included dances for pre-sweet girls in coma conditions. Through complex rituals to call hyangs, it is believed that spirits possess girls and make them dance unconsciously with complex movements. Sanghyang Jaran is the name of Bali for the dance of Kuda Lumping which also includes an artist fascinated by the spirit.^[3]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The Encyclopedia of Malaysia, vol. "Religions & Beliefs", edited by Prof. Dr M. Kamal Hassan & Dr. Ghazali bin Basri ISBN 981-3018-51-8 ¹

[2]:

Abdul Wahab Bin Hussein Abdullah. "A Sociological Study of Keramat Beliefs in Singapore". B.A Honours Academic Exercise, Department of Sociology, National University of Singapore, 2000.

[3]:

Cheu, Hock Tong. "The Datuk Gong Spirit Cult Movement in Penang: Being and Belonging in Multi-ethnic Malaysia". Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, vol. 23, no. 1 (September), 381–404.

[4]:

The Encyclopedia of Malaysia, vol. "Religions & Beliefs", edited by Prof. Dr M. Kamal Hassan & Dr. Ghazali bin Basri ISBN 981-3018-51-8 ¹