The Koboi Returns 2023 – 10

May 27, 2023May 27, 2023 ~ The Koboi Project

In the Malay cosmology, 5. Kayangan is located above the Pokok Pauh Janggi which rises through the 2. Pusat Tasik Pauh Janggi, which is directly above the 6 Dasar Laut or ‘underworld’. In the Islamic cosmology, in the uppermost realm of Heaven, there is the Toba tree, “whose shade a rider could travel for a hundred years without crossing it.” Down below, in the realm of the seven hells, the Zaqqum tree rises out of the Hellfire with fruit-stalks like the heads of devils. There is also Sidrat al-Muntahā, which marks the boundary between the seven realms of paradise and the three realms of the domain of God. Of course, there is also the Tree of Immortality in the Garden of Eden which plays a significant role in Man’s descent into the world to experience the difficulties of life and death, by whose difference, the nature of paradise can be understiood.

I would like to suggest that the Pokok Pauh Janggi can be seen as a single tree that serves similar functions to the various Holy Trees of Islam. Anker Rentse offers an insight into the syncretic assimilation of the local Malay Cosmology with the Islamic one. “Shurga, Heaven, is on the top of Pauh Janggi, and Nuraka, Hell, is down below its roots. A gigantic hole between the roots causes the ocean water to disappear into hell’s big boiling-pot, kawah nufaka, whence the whirl-pool. Underneath the pot burns everlasting fire. A dragon guards the hole, the gate to hell (pintu nuraka) with its body in order to prevent the ocean from running dry.

Image: Eighteenth century Ottoman diagram from the Causus/ The Malay Cosmos diagram is adapted after Md. Salleh Yaspar in Malaysian World View edited by Mohd Taib Osman.

https://books.google.com.my/books?id=-AR-V3ymAzoC&pg=PA274&lpg=PA274&dq=mohd+taib+osman+pusat+tasik&source=bl&ots=Ck_2ts5cvN&sig=ACfU3U189ige7-t0nqKA3yKcLDIurDnuoQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi688zh_sDmAhVT8XMBHaXlC1QQ6AEwAXoECAwQAQ#v=onepage&q=mohd%20taib%20osman%20pusat%20tasik&f=false

https://magictransistor.tumblr.com/post/121976939786/ottoman-diagram-of-heaven-and-hell-caucasus

https://www.islamcan.com/common-questions-about-islam/story-of-the-fall-of-man-in-quran.shtml

Rentse, Anker. “NOTES ON MALAY BELIEFS.” Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 11, no. 2 (117) (1933): 245–51. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41559822.

Image: https://magictransistor.tumblr.com/post/121976939786/ottoman-diagram-of-heaven-and-hell-caucasus

https://islamqa.info/en/answers/1920/trees-mentioned-in-the-quraan-and-sunnah

The Koboi Returns 2023 – 8

May 26, 2023May 26, 2023 ~ The Koboi Project

Islamic cosmology is a variation of what is essentially a Ptolemaic geocentric model derived from Aristotle. According to Edith Jachimowiczhe, the space between the surface of the earth and the sphere of the Moon is known as the sub-lunary region. It is the realm of the elements, of minerals, plants, and animals, and of generation and corruption. In addition to the eight Ptolemaic spheres (Moon or falak al-kamar, Mercury or falak al-utarid, Venus or falak al- zuhra, Sun or falak al- shams, Mars or falak al-Mirrikh, Jupiter or falak al-Mushtari, Saturn or falak al-Zuhal, Fixed Stars or falak al-burudj), the Islamic cosmos has a ninth Sphere, the Sphere of Spheres or falak al-aflak. This astronomical or physical model of the cosmos is integrated with a theological or metaphysical cosmology.

In the explaining the relationship of the structure of the Islamic cosmos to the process of the primordial Creation, Jachimowiczhe cites theTasawwurat of Nasir al-Din Tusi, in which it is said that the creative force “reached the Throne of God, from the Throne reached the pedestal and, from the Pedestal again, descended to the sphere of Saturn and became attached to it. Again, it descended further, from one sphere to the other, until it reached the sphere of the moon. Then the exaltations and the rays of the stars, by the force of that energy and through the mediation of the sphere of the moon, fell upon the elements. This was certainly the cause which stirred the elements …” A line of force is drawn from the highest heaven down to the sublunary region and, given the notion of the ‘stirring’ of the elements, we might impute a turning movement to this force. In my own imagination, this line of force echoes the axial function and dynamics of the Pokok Pauh Janggi which links Dasar laut to Kayangan in the Malay cosmos.

Image: Jachimowicz, Edith (1975). Islamic Cosmology. In Carmen Blacker, Michael Loewe & J. Martin Plumley (eds.), Ancient Cosmologies. Allen & Unwin.

The Koboi Returns 2023 – 6

May 22, 2023May 24, 2023 ~ The Koboi Project

The Malay and Javanese word ‘kayangan‘ is synonymous with adnan, eden, firdaus, janah, nirwana, surga, indraloka, kedewaan, keindraan, suargaloka, suralaya, surgaloka and paradiso. In Malay cosmology, 5. Kayangan is inhabited by Dewa, Perman. This ‘skyworld’ is located directly above the Pokok Pauh Janggi which rises through the Pusat Tasik . This 2 Pusat Tasik Pauh Janggi is, in turn, directly above the 6 Dasar Laut which can be seen as the ‘underworld’. The combined downward spiral of the Pusat Tasek and the upward thrust of the enormous Pokok Pauh Janggi both pass through the 1 Dunia, combining to create the axis mundi of the Malay cosmos.

Anker Rentse explains, from ethnographic notes that seem to have been made in Ulu Kelantan“Shurga, Heaven, is on the top of Pauh Janggi, and Nuraka, Hell, is down below its roots. A gigantic hole between the roots causes the ocean water to disappear into hell’s big boiling-pot, kawah nufaka, whence the whirl-pool. Underneath the pot burns everlasting fire. A dragon guards the hole, the gate to hell (pintu nuraka) with its body in order to prevent the ocean from running dry. In Pusat Tasek an account is kept of the good and the bad deeds of every human being in the world. The accountant in Heaven is Ka’ Tebir, and in Hell, Kiraman. The last one is said to be so busy on occasions, that he gets angry, throws his pen on the floor and declares, Ini sekarang sudah chukup!”

The diagram is adapted after Md. Salleh Yaspar in Malaysian World View edited by Mohd Taib Osman.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kayangan

Rentse, Anker. “NOTES ON MALAY BELIEFS.” Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 11, no. 2 (117) (1933): 245–51. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41559822.

The Koboi Returns 2023 – 2

May 19, 2023May 24, 2023 ~ The Koboi Project

According to Md. Salleh Yaspat (in Malaysian World View edited by Mohd Taib Osman. Mohd Taib Osman) the Traditional Malay Cosmology can be visualized as in the above diagram, whose key is is as follows: 1. Dunia: inhabited by Man, animals, plants, objects, spirits; 2. Pusat Tasik Pauh Janggi: inhabited by Nagas, Jins, Garudas; 3. Padang Jauh dan Puncak Gunung: inhabited by Giants, jins; 4. Pulau Buah: inhabited by Ancestral spirits; 5. Kayangan: inhabited by Dewa, Perman; 6. Dasar Laut: inhabited by Raja Lebis.

In December 2019, I did a Koboi Performance for Percha Art Space in Lumut after which I left for Vancouver. I will now return to Malaysia in August this year (2023) and, to mark my return, I am working towards another Koboi Performance, the details of which will be announced shortly.

Dari Pusat Tasek 27

January 15, 2020May 24, 2023 ~ The Koboi Project

According to Taib Osman, in the Malay cosmology, 1. Dunia is inhabited by Man, animals, plants, objects, spirits; 2. Pusat Tasik Pauh Janggi is inhabited by Nagas, Jins, Garudas; 3. Kayangan is inhabited by Dewa, Perman; 4. Dasar Laut is inhabited by Raja Lebis. Further, according to Anker Rentse, Syurga sits above the Pokok Pauh Janggi, while Neraka lies below it. It is from below the Dasar Laut, from hell’s boiling-pot or the kawah nufaka, that rises the swirl of the Pusat Tasek. A gigantic hole between the roots causes the ocean water to disappear into the boiling-pot. A dragon guards this hole that serves as the pintu Neraka. Its body also blocks the hole, preventing the ocean from running dry. In the Pusat Tasek an account is kept of the good and the bad deeds of every human being in the world.

https://www-jstor-org.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/stable/41559847

Dari Pusat Tasek 22

January 12, 2020May 24, 2023 ~ The Koboi Project

1. **Dunia** is inhabited by Man, animals, plants, objects, spirits; 2. **Pusat Tasik Pauh Janggi** is inhabited by Nagas, Jins, Garudas; 3. **Padang Jauh dan Puncak Gunung** is inhabited by Giants, jins; 4. **Pulau Buah** is inhabited by Ancestral spirits; 5. **Kayangan** is inhabited by Dewa, Perman; 6. **Dasar Laut** is inhabited by Raja Lebis. Modified from a diagram by Md. Salleh Yaspar.

The combined downward spiral of the Pusat Tasek and the upward thrust of the enormous Pokok Pauh Janggi combine to create an axis of Malay Ontology or cosmos. Anker Rentse explains, from ethnographic notes that seem to have been made in Ulu Kelantan“Shurga, Heaven, is on the top of Pauh Janggi, and Nuraka, Hell, is down below its roots. A gigantic hole between the roots causes the ocean water to disappear into hell’s big boiling-pot, kawah nufaka , whence the whirl-pool. Underneath the pot burns everlasting fire. A dragon guards the hole, the gate to hell ( pintu nuraka) with its body in order to prevent the ocean from running dry. In Pusat Tasek an account is kept of the good and the bad deeds of every human being in the world. The accountant in Heaven is Ka’ Tebir, and in Hell, Kiraman. The last one is said to be so busy on occasions, that he gets angry, throws his pen on the floor and declares, Ini sekarang sudah chukup!”

The Dari Pusat Tasek exhibition will run at Percha Artspace, Lumut Waterfront, till 19 JAN 2020 Photographs of the Lumut performance will go towards making the 13th series of the Koboi Project tentatively titled Badan Aku Tubuh Negara. The draft of this work can be viewed at https://koboibalikkampung.wixsite.com/sialjambalang

https://www-jstor-org.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/stable/41559847

Dari Pusat Tasek 2

December 18, 2019May 24, 2023 ~ The Koboi Project

1. **Dunia**; 2. **Pusat Tasik Pauh Janggi**; 3. **Padang Jauh dan Puncak Gunung**; 4. **Pulau Buah**; 5. **Kayangan**; 6. **Dasar Laut**. Diagram by Md. Salleh Yaspar in Malaysian world-view by Taib Osman

The Koboi Project exhibition and performance titled Dari Pusat Tasek will open at the Percha Art Space in Lumut on 25th Dec 2019. There will be an impromptu street performance, carried out as part of this exhibition, based on the malay myth of the ‘navel of the seas’ or the pusat tasik pauh janggi. The combined downward spiral of the Pusat Tasek and the upward thrust of the enormous Pokok Pauh Janggi combine to create an axis of the world, one that analogous with the Tiang Seri of the traditional Malay House. In the Malay Ontology or cosmos – 1. Dunia is inhabited by Man, animals, plants, objects, spirits; 2. Pusat Tasik Pauh Janggi is inhabited by Nagas, Jins, Garudas; 3. Padang Jauh dan Puncak Gunung is inhabited by Giants, jins; 4. Pulau Buah is inhabited by Ancestral spirits; 5. Kayangan is inhabited by Dewa, Perman; 6. Dasar Laut is inhabited by Raja Lebis.

The Pusat Tasik Pauh Janggi appears to exemplify more general Southeast Asian structural and relational principles in which – 1. The Navel of the Seas drains the waters of the world; 2. A submarine tree or world pillar at the navel links the human realm to both the underworld and the skyworld; 3. There are mythic creatures dwelling at the navel of the seas at the base of the tree or pillar; 4. The ebb and flow of tides are due to the movements of the creature blocking the drain at the navel; 5; The ocean currents are due to water flowing in and out of the drain at the navel; 6. Earthquakes are caused by creature at navel of the sea shaking the world pillar; 7. There are relationship between these flows to the movement of the Sun and Moon and events like eclipses; 8. Rising sea levels and flooding are associated with the navel of the sea.

http://sambali.blogspot.com/2008/04/kuroshio-current-and-navel-of-sea.html

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