Danghyang Nirartha, also known asPedanda Shakti Wawu Rauh, was aShaivite religious figure inBali and aHindu traveler, during either the 15th[1] or the 16th century.[2] He was the founder of the Shaivite priesthood in Bali.[3]
Nirartha is also called Pedande Sakti Wawu Rauh[4] (the newcomer of Holy Priest); in Lombok he is known as Pangeran Semeru, and in Sumbawa as Prince Sangupati.[5]
A representative of elite social milieus,[6] Nirartha was a disciple of Muslim saintSyekh Siti Jenar.[7] Jenar was a Javanese member of theWali Sanga (revered Muslim saints) in Java who proned a more mystical approach ofsufism,[8] called pantheist Sufism (union of man and God,wujûdiyah, manunggaling kawulo gusti) - which opposed shariatic Sufism such as that ofSunan Kudus.[9]
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Balinese texts define Nirartha as “a poet, intellectual, wonderworker, and advisor to rulers”,[6] a well-travelled innovator or reformer.[10]He was sent by the Javanese royal court ofMajapahit to Bali. Balinese oral accounts give his arrival in Bali in 1492, during the reign of King Waturenggong of Gelgel.[11][a] He brings the support of the spiritual world (niskala) - and the sanction of Java's earthly powers - to confirmDalem Baturenggong'sGelgel kingship overPasuruan,Blambangan,Puger, Bali,Nusa Penida,Sasak, andSumbawa. He was to select a local priest who would lead therajasurya oraswameda ceremony hosted by King Dalem Watu Renggong for the occasion.[13]
Some accounts of the life of Nirartha say that he came into conflict with I Krahdng, sometimes called the king of Lombok. Krafeng Jarannika is reported to have died in about 1700 while resisting Karangasem's rule of Lombok.[2]
A tradition, well known amongstbrahmana in Bali, is thatwetu telu Islam (a mix of Islam and animism) was brought to theSasaks as the teachings of Nirartha or Dwijèndra, the ancestor of the Balinesebrahmana siwa. One of the versions is that Nirartha disguised himself asPangèran Sangupati inLombok to found Islam there, and as Tuan Seméru or Suméru inSumbawa to spread similar teachings there. Another version is that Pangèran Sangupati is a different person from Nirartha and may have been a Sasak pupil of his.[14]
Nirartha's travels in Bali, Lombok and Sumbawa are recounted in alontara calledDwijendra Tatwa.[15]
Admittedly he was still in Bali and alive in 1537: he penned acolophon attached to a copy of thekakavinSumanasāntaka, which states that “the copy was completed on 14 July 1537 in Bali, at thesima Kanaka by one whose parab was Nirartha”.[11]One year before that, in 1536, according to theDwijendratattwa and theBabad Brāhmaṇa he completed a work calledMahiṣa Mĕgat Kūng.[16]
Nirartha was responsible for facilitating a refashioning ofBalinese Hinduism. He was an important promoter of the idea ofmoksha ( freedom from the cycle of death and rebirth) inIndonesia. He founded the Shaivite priesthood that is now ubiquitous in Bali, and is now regarded as the ancestor of all Shaivitepedandas.[3]
He introduced in BalineseHindu temples the shrine (padmasana) of the empty throne as an altar to the supreme godAcintya[17] orShiva,[18] as a result of Shaivite reformation movement.[17] The temples on the coasts of Bali were augmented with thepadmasana shrines by the dozen during Nirartha's travels.[19]
Bali had been hit with manyplagues in the years before. Some myths state that he made the journey from Java to Bali on top of apumpkin, giving rise to thetaboo among some BalineseBrahmins on the consumption of pumpkins.[20] The legend says that Nirartha presented the king with a hair from his head, stating that this would remove the sufferings.[20] This hair was placed in a temple which became a prominent Shaivite pilgrimage spot in Bali.[21]
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