Traditional beliefs , Karo Regency,
North Sumatra.
Christianity The Karo were harassing Dutch interests in East Sumatra, and
Jacob Theodoor Cremer, a Dutch administrator, regarded
evangelism as a means to suppress this activity. The
Netherlands Missionary Society answered the call, commencing activities in the Karolands in 1890, where they engaged not only in evangelism but also in
ethnology and documenting the Karo culture. The missionaries attempted to construct a base in
Kabanjahe in the Karo highlands but were repelled by the suspicious locals. In retaliation, the Dutch administration waged a war to conquer the Karolands, as part of their final consolidation of power in the
Indies. The Karo perceived Christianity as the 'Dutch religion', and its followers as 'dark-skinned Dutch'. In this context, the Karo church was initially unsuccessful, and by 1950 the church had only 5,000 members. In the years following
Indonesian independence the perception of Christianity among the Karo as an emblem of
colonialism faded, with the church itself acquiring independence, and adopting more elements of traditional Karo culture such as music (whereas previously the brass band was promoted). By 1965, the Karo church had grown to 35,000 members.
After the Indonesian mass killings of 1965–66 (Karonese:
uis) this action signifies this couple is now united as husband and wife. The Karo continued to follow their traditional religion for several decades after the arrival of the first Christian missionaries in the Karolands. Following the
Indonesian killings of 1965–1966, at which time over 70% of the Karo still followed traditional religions, there was a push for Indonesians to identify with an established religion. Many Karo joined the
GBKP (Batak Karo Protestant church) (60,000 were baptised in 1966–1970.), and from 5,000 Muslims (mostly non-Karo) in Karoland in 1950, there were 30,000 in 1970. At this time, the
Balai Pustaka Adat Merga Si Lima (BPAMSL) was established in Berastagi. BPAMSL proclaimed the 'agama Pemena', or the religion (agama) of the founders (
Pemena). The concept of 'religion' was relatively new in the Karoland; historically the neighbouring Muslim people, were known as 'kalak Jawi' or the people of the Jawi lands, and the concept of 'kalak Kristen', or Christian people, was the first time that people were identified by their religion rather than their land. The 'agama Pemena' of BPAMSL was a defense against accusations of atheism, Communism or animism. BPAMSL conducted a ceremony in the Lau Debuk–Debuk hot spring akin to the one to invest in a new Karo village. This ceremony essentially validated the Dutch-established Berastagi as a 'true' Karo village and was attended by the regent of Karo regency and other political figures. At that time, BPAMSL became the largest religious organisation in the Karolands, surpassing the GBKP, and absorbing many who had joined it following the anti-Communist purge. As a response to the Pemena movement, the GBKP after 1969 determined that members could participate in village rituals as a matter of
adat (tradition), whereas previously they had been rejected by GBKP as of a religious (unchristian) nature. After
Golkar won the elections in 1972, Djamin Ginting, a leading BPAMSL figure proclaimed BPAMSL as a movement within Golkar, adopting Islam as his religion, while
Indonesian National Party supporters rejected this. With BPAMSL no longer a united force for the practice of Pemena, and Pemena itself no longer a uniting force in the Karoland, and with all Indonesians required to follow one of the religions of Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, or risk writing 'without belief' on their identity card, the board members of BPAMSL met with a wealthy Indian man from Medan and determined that the traditional religion was, in fact, an expression of Indian Hinduism and that it had been founded by a 'Bagavan Bṛgu', from which had been derived the alternate name for the Karo beliefs 'Perbegu' (followers of 'begu' (in Karo, begu is a spirit or ghost)), the existence of Indian-originating Karo
marga names and similarities between Karo ritual and Indian Hindu ones all proving this. Thus the Association of Karo Hinduism (PAHK) was proclaimed. . The PAHK declared 'Pemena is the same as Hinduism' and received funding from Medan Indians for their cause. PAHK became a movement within
Parisada Hindu Dharma Indonesia, and as a culmination of this, in 1985 PAHK became a branch of the PHDI, PHDK. When Parisada Hindu Dharma Karo (PHDK) was established, it claimed 50,000 members and 50,000 more sympathisers. The PHD built a Balinese-style temple in Tanjung, a Karo village to inaugurate the PHDK. In doing so it was stated that PHDI (i.e. Balinese) Hinduism was the only valid form, and the Karo 'Hindu' ritual was invalid, the name change from 'Hindu Karo' to 'Hindu Dharma Karo' and the replacement of Tamil Indians on the PAHK board with Balinese on the PHDK symbolising the assertion of 'Hindu Dharma' as the 'valid' Hindu religion, with little regard paid to re-imagining Karo rituals within an Agama Hindu context. There was an immediate decline in PAHK/PHDK support, with a small number of people still following the PHDK practices, but others following traditional Karo (Pemena) rituals outside of the formal context of PHDK. This left the Christian GBKP, by then for many years an indigenous Karo-run adat-respecting church a rather more comfortable option for most Karo than the Balinese Hinduism asserted by PHDK. There are today four Balinese-style PHDK temples in the Karoland, but the concept of Karo traditional beliefs as a manifestation of Hinduism is otherwise largely extinct.
Modern Christianity Although the
Gereja Batak Karo Protestan (GBKP) is the largest Karo church, There are also Catholic (33,000 members as of 1986) and
several Pentecostal denominations. ==
Merga Silima ==