In a tropical country like Indonesia, the seasonal rains are becoming more unpredictable and sometimes, they can interrupt planned events and outdoor activities from taking place. A sunny day in the morning can, all of a sudden, turn into a heavy downpour in the afternoon. In contrast to the Western culture, where weather forecasting has played an increasingly large role in every part of people’s everyday lives, Indonesians just simply say, “Take care of your business in the morning because it will always be raining in the afternoon.” Rainy days can be very disruptive as,  most of the time, they cause floods and massive traffic gridlock. Can you imagine if this were to happen on a very important day in your life? You can either let nature take its course or, a common mitigation plan, is to hire a pawang hujan (rain master) who provides the service of preventing rain during outdoor events.

In modern day Indonesia, pawang hujan has become a part of everyday life. Even though this profession is mostly sought after during rainy days, in some cases, they may be hired to help during disasters. For example, when a fuel storage tank at the Pertamina (a state-owned oil company) holding facility was on fire, they called a pawang hujan to extinguish a raging fire by making rain. Having a pawang hujan on your side during campaign seasons is considered a recipe to succeeding. Political parties who participate in the campaign believe that to be ahead of the game, they have to hire a powerful pawang hujan—the more powerful, the better. Say, there will be a mystical war between pawang hujans. The winner will be able to send rain to the opponent to disturb the campaign.

So who are these powerful rain masters, and how do they weave their magic? They do not attempt to stop the rain from falling; they just shift it somewhere else that needed more rain. The practice of pawang hujans is mostly known in Java Island and Bali; however, they accept assignments all over the country. They mostly come from different religious backgrounds, but they have something in common, which is the need for strong faith and powerful prayers to supernatural beings, whose assistance they request for directing the rain. To prepare pawang hujans for the big task, every one of them takes a different approach: fasting, saying specific prayers, meditation, not drinking alcohol, or giving sesajen (an offering to the spirits). There is no standard price tag for the services; it usually ranges from 350,000 to 2 billion rupiah.

As weather and climate extremes will be the most tangible impact of global warming on our everyday lives, it is for sure the pawang hujan will not disappear soon.

Indonesian related terms and words:

Images were taken from Flickr. com/creativecommons

By Arief Muslimin (heavy rain)