Sriwedari Garden is indeed a garden where all are entangled in love. There, love can take shelter under the umbrella of the asana flowers.
By
Sindhunata
·5 minutes read
Who would not be fascinated by the beauty of Sriwedari Garden? In the distance there appears a blue hill. Various flowers are spread across the hillside. The flowers are racing to bloom, wanting to feel the warm caress of the dawn. The red, orange, white, yellow, purple, and blue buds are full of spirit. Nature seems to be embroidering the hillside with flowers so they form a morning carpet filled with the joy of children.
Meanwhile, on the hilltop, thin clouds move like parting fragments of an angel's robes. Jasmine buds are everywhere, lending its fragrance to the rising morning. The tendrils of katirah redden, creeping passionately along the trunks of the kanigara. Red and yellow vie there, making envious the asana tree that has been late in blooming its yellow flowers. The birds sing the song of the dew from the top of the kaniri trees to welcome the morning. In the garden, the kalangkyang (eagles) have stopped crying and are soaring flying happily, like lovers who can no longer be separated.
On the steep hill is a waterfall. The water flows down fast like a white snake, a shawl splitting the green. There is the sound of water hitting the rocks below, then splashing up and falling down like pearls. The water then becomes a flowing river. Getting closer, the river dips sharply, its water descending through rocks arranged like stairs to emit a gurgling rhythm of longing that flows continuously like the water, as if the longing will never end until it reaches the lake of love that can end the longing. Indeed, that longing is certain to end, because in the middle of the garden is a beautiful lake that will serve as its harbor.
The lake is quiet and peaceful, surrounded by beautiful flowers. There, white swans swim to and fro, relaxing in the warmth of the sun. As the swans make love, the water continues to flow in longing, and not in vain. Moreover, on the edge of the lake are peacocks dancing from lust. And from the kalaka trees comes the rhythmical cooing of lusty doves.
Sriwedari Garden is indeed a garden where all are entangled in love. There, love can take shelter under the umbrella of the asana flowers. Even withered love will be restored because the gadung are willing to offer their tendrils as handholds for love to continue along its path. In the garden, all flowers can bloom. Even small, insignificant flowers can burst out from between the hard rocks, as if the hard rocks contain water that yearns to support all things so they bloom beautifully. In Sriwedari Garden, all things talk about love, so the beauty of the flowers are felt only when they are speaking the language of love.
Being in such a beautiful garden, Dewi Citrawati feels her soul fly to the distant past. She is drawn to return to the time before she was born, to a time she did not yet exist. What existed then was only love. And that love flew in the kahyangan (heavens). The love was very beautiful, like the golden tendril of the jangga, snaking like a dragon. The gods raced to catch it, but none did.
Without knowing its reason, the golden jangga tendril that resembled a dragon crawled over Batara Wisnu, who suddenly felt he had been ambushed and wrapped by love. So terrible was the entanglement that he felt helpless. He couldn't tell what the love that entangled him really was. He could only feel that the entanglement was so enjoyable and beautiful that he didn't want to be released from it, even though he felt imprisoned. In order not to be released from it, he held the golden jangga tendril that resembled a dragon. At that moment, what he held turned into a wijayakusuma (queen of the night) flower. At the same time, it seemed he no longer felt the existence of time. Whether it was day or night, he no longer knew. Even when the moon appeared, he didn't feel that he existed in the night. Time had disappeared, and he only enjoyed what beauty was at hand. But then, the wijayakusuma flower slipped from his hand, the strands of its petals grew and grew to spread out into a garden while its pistil turned into a beautiful princess. That was Sriwedari Garden and the beautiful princess was Dewi Sri. Dewi Sri was so very charming, Batara Wisnu wanted to marry her and at that very moment. He would let Dewi Sri live in Sriwedari Garden until a certain time to come.
However, when that time arrived, Dewi Sri was no longer in Sriwedari Garden. Dewi Sri had been forced to flee because the gods teased her every day. Indeed, what god would not fall in love with Dewi Sri for her beauty? Dewi Sri then descended to the world, wandering everywhere, until she was incarnated in the person of the Princess of Magada, Dewi Citrawati. As Dewi Citrawati, Dewi Sri awaited her lover, Batara Wisnu.
Meanwhile, Batara Wisnu also had to descend to the world, transforming into a human so that he could find his lover, Dewi Sri. As the pair wandered, Sriwedari Garden on Mount Nguntara became deserted. The garden was created for love, but love was no longer there. It is no wonder that the garden continuously longed to find love again.