Most Indonesian people do not recognize Mt. Padang as
popular as Mt. Tangkuban Perahu, Mt. Merapi, Mt. Papandayan, Mt. Bromo, etc.
Those sites are well-known already for being one of tourist’s destinations enjoying
the mountainous sceneries. Mt. Padang is not located in Padang, the capital
city of West Sumatra. It is located in Karyamukti village, Cianjur regency,
West Java. Mt. Padang occupies 3 ha area, was already mentioned as the biggest
megalith site in Southeast Asia, compared to Borobudur temple site which is
only 1.5 ha.
Megalith was derived from the word “mega” which
means big and “lithos” which means stones. It is indeed, a hill covered by many
andesites stairs look alike a terrace, which also spread untidily on its surface.
Andesite is a kind of stone which was formed by volcanic materials after
eruption. Located on 885 m above sea level, from Mt. Padang you can also enjoy
the fresh air and scenery of tea plantation around. Not only enjoying an
amazing history behind, you will also restore and rejuvenate energy by taking a
visit on this site during the weekend.
 |
| Tea plantation around, along the road |
My friend and I were going to Mt. Padang on Sunday morning
by an elf. After having a night stay before, we departed there from Sukabumi.
It took for about a half and an hour to reach Karyamukti village, Cianjur. But,
we still had to ride up to the site for some other times. The route was quite
difficult as there was only a road made of rocks. I would say that most of the
trip to Mt. Padang is like an off-roading. Thus, a great driving skill and
big-wheel vehicle was truly necessary. Along the road, we were amused by
breath-taking panorama of a huge tea plantation. The amusement did not end yet.
Before entering the Mt. Padang, there was an old railway
station, called Lampegan station. It used to be inoperative but since 8
February 2014 it is running again and becomes one of stations stopped by KA
Siliwangi to serve people going from Cianjur to Sukabumi. We went straight to
Mt. Padang and just prayed that there won’t be any other vehicle passing by due
to the small road.
After off-roading for about an hour, we finally
reached at the gate of Mt. Padang. There was a big car park for the tourists.
Afterwards, we had to walk on foot. Before entering the site itself, we had to
pay for tourist fees, IDR 2000 – 10000 a person. Before climbing up the stairs,
there was spring water, called “Cikahuripan”. In local language, “Ci” means
water and “kahuripan” means life. Thus, the local people believe that the water
may give long life and is rejuvenating.
It
did not take longer than an hour to reach the top of the mount. According to
the local wisdom, Mt. Padang was a sacred worship place and a sanctuary of
Prabu Siliwangi. Once you visit the place, you will see the design and the
miracle of its formation. The andesites, called menhir, were organized like a
terrace and bond by ancient cement made of iron, silica, and clay. The most
interesting thing was that the andesites were all pentagonal and there were
five levels of terrace. The highest was the most sacred place to arrange a
ritual. There was also some stone which sound like “gamelan”, a traditional
instrument. People believe that it is used as a musical instrument during the
ritual.
 |
| Ancient cement, made of silica, iron and clay |
Mt. Padang was
firstly found in a report of Rapporten van de oudheid-kundigen Dienst (ROD) in
1914, which was later reported by N.J Krom in 1949. However, it was just being
officially restored as a heritage site in 1985. The formation of its stones
looks like Machu Picchu in Peru. However, not so many people notice at its existence.
Recently, some archeologist, geologists and other researcher worked as an
independent team of research on ancient catastrophic disaster found out that
Mt. Padang was probably built older than Giza Pyramid (2500 BC) in Egypt. After
doing excavation and carbon dating on 4 up to 12 m below the surface, they
found out that the material inside age 4500-12500 BC. The observation was done
in collaboration with Laboratory, BETALAB, of Miami, USA. The scientists were
doing some more research and investigation on it. However, it raised some
protests from the opponents and local people that they concerned on the damages
and distraction later. Having permits to conduct more investigation by the
president, it was terminated in the end of 2013.
Human beings are getting smarter inventing more
sophisticated tools and technologies. More complex methods will be fruitful for
digging up the unrevealed information yet. However, being the first one taking
step will always be the hardest part.
 |
| Me, on the top of Mt. Padang |
 |
| Family's trip to Mt. Padang |
p.s. thanks to de_Rantau, for organising this great trip!
No comments:
Post a Comment