Already described above. ‘In the Daroy river is a terrible sane; let no man suffer his shadow to fall on him, lest evil overtake him.‘
Expanded account from The Achehnese, Vol. I — Krueng Daroy
Krueng Daroy (Achehnese Kruëng Daroy) is a river of Great Acheh, at the source of which — in a cave traditionally chosen for such devotions — the ulama Habib Samalanga practised his tapa (hermitical seclusion) and imposed the same discipline upon his followers. The river is one of the sacred watercourses of the Achehnese, mentioned by Snouck Hurgronje in connection with the religious exercises of the most celebrated of the Achehnese sayyid-warleaders. Krueng Daroy (Achehnese Kruëng Daroy) is a river of Acheh rising in the highlands, whose source is the site of a celebrated cave associated from ancient times with the religious practice of tapa — that is, with the seclusion, fasting, and devotional exercises of Achehnese ulamas and holy men. The cave at the source of the Krueng Daroy is mentioned in The Achehnese Vol. I principally in connection with the devotional practice of Habib Samalanga and, in a footnote, with that of Teungku Lam Guha.
The Tapa of Habib Samalanga
In the chapter on the ulamas and the political leadership of the Acheh War, Snouck describes the rivalry between Teungku Tiro and Habib Samalanga for the leadership of the jihad. The Habib, in order to appear in the eyes of his followers as at least the equal — and if possible the superior — of “the Teungku”, had to distinguish himself from the latter in some particular way. “This he did; his speciality was tapa — or seclusion from the world. He would remain isolated (kleunèt) for from seven to forty successive days in a cave at the source of the Krueng (river) Daroy, a place which was from ancient times chosen for such devotions.”
The choice of the cave at the source of the Krueng Daroy is significant. Tapa in the sense of absolute hermitical seclusion was, in Snouck’s account, admired but seldom practised by the Achehnese; the choice of a place “from ancient times chosen for such devotions” places the cave in the category of recognised hermitages, alongside the cave of Lam Gut and the other Achehnese hermit-sites. The Habib’s recourse to the cave was thus both a personal discipline and a public assertion of his religious standing.
The Teungku Lam Guha Reference
A footnote to the same passage records that “a Javanese whose tomb is now an object of veneration at Ulee Lheue is known by the name of Teungku Lam Guha, having done tapa for successive years in this cave of the Daroy.” The Javanese — apparently an earlier holy man, of Javanese origin, who had settled in Acheh and had practised tapa in the same cave — was buried at Ulee Lheue on the coast, and his tomb was, by Snouck’s time, an object of veneration. The name Lam Guha — “in the cave” — preserves the memory of his hermitage at the source of the Krueng Daroy, and the veneration paid to his tomb is one of the channels by which the sanctity of the cave was extended to the coast.
The Geography of the Krueng Daroy
The Krueng Daroy is a river of Great Acheh, flowing from the highland of the XXII Mukims or the XXV down to the coast in the neighbourhood of Banda-Acheh. The “source” of the river — the spring or the headwater at which the cave was situated — is the kind of remote and wooded spot which the Achehnese associated with the practice of tapa. The choice of such a spot for the hermitage is consistent with the broader Achehnese (and Malay) tradition by which the high places, the springs, and the caves of the interior were regarded as the natural seats of holiness.
The Function of the Cave in Achehnese Religious Life
The cave at the source of the Krueng Daroy is one of a small class of Achehnese hermitages which appear in Vol. I of The Achehnese. The same chapter on the ulamas mentions the tapa of other Achehnese holy men — including the hermits of the Eumpee Lulu and the Krueng Blibeh — and the broader institution of tapa is treated at length in the chapter on the mystics and the saints. The cave of the Krueng Daroy is thus one of the recognised hermitages of Acheh; its association with the Habib Samalanga on the one hand and with the Javanese Teungku Lam Guha on the other places it in the double tradition of the Achehnese jihad and the older Achehnese sanctity.
The Tapa as Punishment
Snouck adds that “his followers had also occasionally to submit to a similar course of tapa; it was in fact one of the ordinary punishments imposed by him for various offences.” The use of tapa as a punishment — imposed by the Habib upon his followers — is one of the small facts by which the practical working of the Achehnese religious movement is illustrated. The cave of the Krueng Daroy was thus not only the seat of the Habib’s personal devotions but also the place at which the discipline of his following was maintained; it was at once a hermitage and a penitentiary, and the Krueng Daroy takes its place in the Achehnese sacred geography as one of the principal sites of the religious revival of the late nineteenth century.
See Also
- Habib Samalanga
- Teungku Tiro
- Acheh War
- Ulee Lheue
- Lam Guha
- Gunong Lhee
- Krueng Blibeh
- Great Acheh
- Banda Acheh
- Teungku Lam Guha
- Tapa (religious seclusion)
- Sayyid Teungku Anjong
- Gampong Java
- Teungku di Kuala
- Singkel
Source
The Achehnese, Vol. II, by Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje, translated by A.W.S. O’Sullivan, indexed by R.J. Wilkinson. Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1906.