Page 24 - EBOOK_Jamu: The Ancient Indonesian Art of Herbal Healing

CHAPTER 1

Indonesian Healing Through the Ages

THE USE OF HERBS IN A CURATIVE OR HEALTH-GIVING CAPACITY IS AS

OLD AS JAVANESE CIVILIZATION ITSELF.

Tracking down the origins of jamu is no easy task. The use of herbs in a

curative or health-giving capacity is as old as Javanese civilization itself.
Indonesians believe herbal medicine originated in the ancient palaces of
Surakarta (Solo) and Yogyakarta in Central Java. The culture of the courts also
developed as a result of various exotic influences—Chinese, Indian and Arab—
and these influences are reflected in their herbal medicine. But as with many
things Indonesian, solid evidence is hard to find.

Early Evidence
Experts agree the use of plants for medicinal purposes in Indonesia dates from
prehistoric times. The theory is substantiated by the impressive collection of
Neolithic stone implements in Jakarta’s National Museum that were almost
certainly used for daily healthcare. Tools such as mortars or rubbing stones were

used to grind plants and obtain powders and plant extracts.
Further proof can be found in stone reliefs depicting the human life cycle at
the famous Borobudur temple dating from C. AD 800– 900. In these carvings the
kalpataruh leaf (from the ‘mythological tree that never dies’) and other
ingredients are being pounded to make mixtures for women’s health and beauty
care. These reliefs also depict people giving body massage, a healing process
recorded in many parts of the world, particularly in China, Japan and India. With
the establishment of early trade routes between Asia and Asia Minor, healing
techniques would have quite easily passed from East to West, and vice versa.

At the end of the first millennium, the influence of Javanese culture began
to spread to the neighbouring island of Bali, whose peoples had already absorbed
influences from as far away as India. The powerful Majapahit kingdom thrived
in East Java, controlling much of the seas between India and China; links were
established between Java and Bali (a channel of less than five km [three miles]