The Dewadaru tree is mostly found to the north of the island of Java, among the Sunda islands of Karimunjava, in the Java Sea, bearing the coordinates of Latitude 5° 52' S, and Longitude 110° 26' E. It has a human population of approximately 20,000 people. The Dewadaru tree had been sanctified by the local inhabitants of the island for countless generations as a result of a myth perpetuated by the elders of the society. In one of the local dialects, "daru" means "blessing from heaven," while "dewa," (derived from Sanskrit) is the Indonesian term for "god." "Dewadaru" is thus interpreted as the "gift of the gods," implying that this tree genus is a tangible symbolic gift from the gods/esses to the islanders. To the local inhabitants, the Dewadaru represents the wisdom of the gods in maintaining the harmony, stability, and peacefulness of Nature. The Dewadaru is believed to be the protective guardian of the living souls on the Karimunjava islands.

According to the legend, there was once a man living on the island of Java who was furious with his son for constant disobedience. The man, although he loved his son dearly, strove to inculcate in him a certain hard lesson. So one day he drove his son away from home with the warning that he was not to set foot on Java again.

Not willing to disobey his father again, he prepared himself for the journey. In sadness, the son left Mt. Muria where they dwelt and moved on to the open seas to the north. He sailed on a boat for many days through stormy weather and amidst huge waves, not really knowing his destination and perhaps with little will to survive. Then one day, his boat landed on the shores of a small, uninhabited island.

Meanwhile, from the peak of Mt. Muria in Java, the boy's father was secretly watching over his son clairvoyantly. But for some reason his vision was vague and unclear, and thus lost track of the whereabouts of the boy on that island. In the old Javanese language, the word "vague" is translated as kerimun. Thus the island became known as "Karimun-java."

The boy continued his journey inland bearing two wooden staffs as walking sticks to assist his journey. He retrieved these from the shore. These two short poles wounded him while his boat was capsized to shore by the sheer power of the waves. In the middle of the forest he poked the two staffs to the ground and started to rest from the tiresome journey. Miraculously, in that very instant the two staffs grew into magnificent trees. In awe of the incident, he named them "Dewadaru." In the present day, the place where he rested now stands the village of Nyamplungan.

Nowadays, although not too numerous, there is a substantial amount of Dewadaru trees growing on the islands-the descendants of the very first two. The remains of the original, fabulous Dewadaru trees may still be seen. The humps are there as if to substantiate the truth of the legend. The descendants of the magickal trees grow in hill-slopes of the islands and are not easily accessible.

Page 1 of 4 :: First | Last :: Prev | 1 2 3 4 | Next