HALO JEPARA- The Oldest Kongco Temple, prescription medicine for healing and strengthening tolerance on Kartini Earth.
Dicky Sugandi, Suwoto and Sutikno were seen busy preparing various things related to the prayer activities to welcome Chinese New Year 2575, Friday (9/2/2024) afternoon.
The Chinese New Year “picking up hope” prayer activity at the Hian Thian Siang Tee Temple in Welahan Village/District, Jepara will be held on Friday evening from 23.00 WIB – 00.00 WIB. Then after that it continues with lighting candles and lamps which have a philosophy for the enlightenment of life.
These three people, each of whom is more than half a century old, are important figures in the Jepara Welahan Temple which was founded in 1600. Dicky Sugandi is the Chairman of the Welahan Temple Foundation, Suwoto is the Secretary while Sutikno is the Biokong or caretaker of this temple which is said to be the oldest in Indonesia.
What’s unique is that even though they are active in the temple, the religions adhered to by these three people are different. Dicky and Suwoto are Buddhists, while Sutikno is Muslim.
Apart from the three of them, there are dozens of residents with various religious backgrounds who also serve at the Welahan Temple. There are Buddhists, Muslims and Catholic Christians.
“Even though the religions are different, we don’t have any problems. We even strengthen tolerance. Here tolerance is not just theory, but direct daily practice,” said Dicky Sugandi.
The activities of Dicky, the management of the foundation and other elements at the Welahan Temple, are not only matters of worship, but there are also social activities including helping with Chinese Sinse-style treatment which has existed for hundreds of years. This treatment is free without a penny charged.
This traditional medicine is what differentiates Welahan Temple from others. In fact, this healing activity was carried out when the Welahan Temple was founded by two brothers, namely Tan Siang Hoe and Tan Siang Djie.
They built the Welahan Temple as a form of gratitude to God for being given the gift of being able to heal people.
“Since its inception, this temple has been known for its healing. It is also part of community service,” said Dicky Sugandi.
One of the iconic stories of Welahan Temple-style treatment occurred in 1886. At that time, RA Kartini, who was 7 years old, was seriously ill. Her father, the Regent of Jepara, Raden Mas Adipati Ariososroningrat, then brought in a Dutch doctor to treat Kartini. But unfortunately the modern medical personnel gave up. Little Kartini is still sick. His body shivered violently.
Kartini was finally advised to undergo Sinse-style treatment at Welahan Temple. It turned out that thanks to treatment at the Welahan Temple, Kartini recovered.
Kartini recorded and shared her experiences through letters sent to her friend, Mrs. Rosa Abendanon-Mandri, wife of the Director of Education, Religion and Industry of the Dutch East Indies.
In the letter dated 27 October 1902, the Hero of Indonesian Women’s Emancipation shared her impressions and views regarding the practice of Sinse-style medicine in Jepara.
“What didn’t work with the medicines of the educated people turned out to work with the medicines of herbalists,” wrote Kartini in her letter which was later collected into the book Habis Gelap Terbitlah Terang.
There are many stories of people who were “matched” with Welahan Temple-style treatment, as experienced by Kartini. They are not only from the Jepara area and its surroundings, but also from other cities both on the island of Java and outside Java.
Their backgrounds are also diverse. Starting from various education, profession, race and even religion. This fact is recorded in the guest book at Welahan Temple.
According to Suwoto, residents come to Welahan Temple with various illnesses. Starting from mild complaints such as flatulence to serious illnesses such as coronary heart disease to stroke.
When undergoing treatment, they will be accompanied by the biokong or caretaker of the Welahan Temple. This Biokong will also carry out the ritual and “communicate” with Kongco Hian Thian Siang Tee Welahan.
Until you get “instructions” for the prescription containing the medicine mixture, the dosage and the duration of time to consume the herbal medicines.
At Welahan Temple, there are hundreds of prescription drugs. The recipes are stored in two small cupboards. One cupboard for old medicine prescriptions. One more cupboard for new prescription drugs.
This media crew was allowed to open and read the paper containing the drug prescription. In the middle of the paper, there is writing in Chinese. But underneath there is writing in Indonesian which, if you read it, contains how to mix the medicinal ingredients.
After pocketing the prescription, the resident was directed to redeem the prescription at a Chinese medicine shop in Semarang City. This shop is located closest to Jepara. Apart from Semarang, there are also Chinese medicine shops in Surabaya, Jakarta and Medan.
“The temple only makes prescriptions. The price of medicine depends on the prescription. If you have a mild illness, one packet costs Rp. 5 thousand. However, there are also those that cost Rp. 100 thousand per drink, if the illness is serious,” he explained.
According to Suwoto, through treatment activities, Welahan Temple also helps treat tolerance. The Welahan Temple does not discriminate between residents who come for treatment or other agendas. They are well received and treated equally.
Efforts to maintain tolerance are also carried out through other social activities. One of them is through the action of sharing food or basic necessities at certain moments.
In a year, Welahan Temple has four agendas for distributing food or basic necessities to local residents, especially those in need. Such as parking attendants, pedicab drivers, elderly people and other elements around the temple.
“One of the moments of distribution is during fasting (Ramadan) because there are many Muslims around the temple. Or ahead of other religious days because there is also a church here. That is also part of efforts to maintain tolerance between people of the same religion and other religions,” he said.
Jepara cultural observer Hadi Priyanto said the practice of tolerance was ingrained in the Welahan Temple area and its surroundings. So there is rarely or even no tension between the temple and local residents.
Even when there was an “uproar” with anti-Chinese sentiment that occurred in other areas, such as during the events of 1981 or ahead of the 1998 reforms, it did not spread or even trigger casualties in Jepara.
Apart from there being no tension, said Hadi Priyanto, the Chinese community in Welahan was even actively involved in the movement with the natives against the Dutch colonialists. This was like when the Pacinan War occurred in 1740 – 1743.
“So tolerance around the Welahan Temple is natural and practiced in everyday life. We can learn about tolerance from the Welahan Temple,” he said. (*)
