IT was still morning, but the stinging cold climate of Mount Merapi did not affect an elderly man who was sitting on the watu dampit (two large stones) of the Srimanganti platform, located a mere 2.5 kilometers from the summit of Mount Merapi. This 79-year-old man is best known as Mbah Maridjan. He sat cross-legged and faced west, his two palms meeting in front of his face in meditative prayer.

It is not easy to reach the Srimanganti platform, whi