After waiting a few minutes for the inner grounds to open at 10, we got a rare opportunity to visit Sultan Agung himself. Entering the burial site requires a few symbols of respect; among them, proper dress: sarongs, no shoes, a batik top (ladies), a special blue shirt (available for rent for men), or men can go bare chested.
Cameras weren’t invited, sadly enough.
Sultan Agung’s tomb is housed in a wooden structure, with his wife in a separate room. His 11 children are buried outside, along with the Captain of his royal guard, his favorite wayang puppet-master (entertainer), and his favorite singer. The Sultan of a smaller, neighboring kingdom is buried in a smaller part of this building, with his entourage in the back. Judging from the dimensions of the building, none of the ancient Javanese were very tall.
Perhaps by being among the first visitors of the day, we got an interesting opportunity to sit among a few of the village elders and hear their Muslim prayers outside of the tomb. (mostly in Arabic, so I understood about 3 words out of 100).
After seizing upon the fact that prof. Wheeler & I weren’t locals, a few of the gentlemen were curious to know our thoughts on why the American government sponsored the death sentence of Saddam Hussein.
Hmmm.
Well, it’s best to be ready to field all sorts of questions as the token Americans walking around, even while sitting at a king’s tomb. I tried to give him a thoughtful answer- commenting on how the process took about a year or more, it was conducted by Iraqis, and it’s most compelling feature: it’s openness to the public. At the very least- people around the world, if interested enough, could watch the whole process unfold, and hear Saddam defend himself. It doesn’t mean the process was perfect, but it makes it hard to support the argument that the result was predetermined in far away Washington DC.
Cameras weren’t invited, sadly enough.
Sultan Agung’s tomb is housed in a wooden structure, with his wife in a separate room. His 11 children are buried outside, along with the Captain of his royal guard, his favorite wayang puppet-master (entertainer), and his favorite singer. The Sultan of a smaller, neighboring kingdom is buried in a smaller part of this building, with his entourage in the back. Judging from the dimensions of the building, none of the ancient Javanese were very tall.
Perhaps by being among the first visitors of the day, we got an interesting opportunity to sit among a few of the village elders and hear their Muslim prayers outside of the tomb. (mostly in Arabic, so I understood about 3 words out of 100).
After seizing upon the fact that prof. Wheeler & I weren’t locals, a few of the gentlemen were curious to know our thoughts on why the American government sponsored the death sentence of Saddam Hussein.
Hmmm.
Well, it’s best to be ready to field all sorts of questions as the token Americans walking around, even while sitting at a king’s tomb. I tried to give him a thoughtful answer- commenting on how the process took about a year or more, it was conducted by Iraqis, and it’s most compelling feature: it’s openness to the public. At the very least- people around the world, if interested enough, could watch the whole process unfold, and hear Saddam defend himself. It doesn’t mean the process was perfect, but it makes it hard to support the argument that the result was predetermined in far away Washington DC.
posted by jonathan adventures at 3:35 AM
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