Mrapen ( id, Api Abadi Mrapen) is an

eternal flame An eternal flame is a flame, lamp or torch that burns for an indefinite time. Most eternal flames are ignited and tended intentionally, but some are natural phenomena caused by natural gas leaks, peat fires and coal seam fires, all of which can ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

that is the result of natural geologic activity.

Location

The Mrapen eternal flame is located in Manggarmas village, Godong District,

Grobogan Regency Grobogan Regency ( jv, ꦒꦿꦺꦴꦧꦺꦴꦒꦤ꧀) is a regency ( id, kabupaten) located in northeastern part of the Central Java province in Indonesia. Created on 4 March 1726, the Grobogan Regency has an area of 2,022.25 km2, and is t ...

Central Java Central Java ( id, Jawa Tengah) is a province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogyakart ...

, about 26 kilometers east of

Purwodadi, Grobogan Purwodadi is a town and a district in Grobogan Regency, of which it is the administrative capital. It is located to the south east of Semarang, the capital of Central Java, Indonesia. It covers an area of 78.12 km2, and had a population of ...

Scientific basis

This eternal flame was created through natural geological phenomena; the leaking of

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon d ...

from the ground. It is unknown when the gas leakage was ignited, but it is thought to have been ignited sometime before the

15th century The 15th century was the century which spans the Julian dates from 1 January 1401 ( MCDI) to 31 December 1500 ( MD). In Europe, the 15th century includes parts of the Late Middle Ages, the Early Renaissance, and the early modern period. ...

era of the

Demak Sultanate The Demak Sultanate (کسلطانن دمق) was a Javanese Muslim state located on Java's north coast in Indonesia, at the site of the present-day city of Demak. A port fief to the Hindu-Buddhist Majapahit kingdom thought to have been founded i ...

as it was already known by then.

Culture

It is said that the sacred

kris The kris, or ''keris'' in the Indonesian language, is an asymmetrical dagger with distinctive blade-patterning achieved through alternating laminations of iron and nickelous iron (''pamor''). Of Javanese origin, the kris is famous for its dist ...

heirloom dagger of Demak Sultanate was forged in the Mrapen flame. The Mrapen flame is considered sacred in

Javanese culture Javanese culture is the culture of the Javanese people. Javanese culture is centered in the provinces of Central Java, Yogyakarta and East Java in Indonesia. Due to various migrations, it can also be found in other parts of the world, such as ...

, and it is used in the annual Waisak Buddhist ceremony, where it is brought to the

Mendut Mendut is a ninth-century Buddhist temple, located in Mendut village, Mungkid sub-district, Magelang Regency, Central Java, Indonesia. The temple is located about three kilometres east from Borobudur. Mendut, Borobudur and Pawon, all of which are ...

and

Borobudur Borobudur, also transcribed Barabudur ( id, Candi Borobudur, jv, ꦕꦤ꧀ꦝꦶꦧꦫꦧꦸꦝꦸꦂ, Candhi Barabudhur) is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist temple in Magelang Regency, not far from the town of Muntilan, in Central Java, Indone ...

temples together with sacred water from the Umbul Jumprit spring. Beginning with the inaugural GANEFO in 1963, the flame of Mrapen has traditionally been incorporated into the torch relays of multi-sports events held in the country, such as the

Southeast Asian Games The Southeast Asian Games, also known as the SEA Games, is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with sup ...

. During the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 Augus ...

torch relay, the Asian Games flame (which originated from

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...

, India—host city of the inaugural

1951 Asian Games The 1951 Asian Games ( hi, 1951 एशियाई खेल; Marathi: १९५१ आशियाई खेळ), officially known as the First Asian Games, was a multi-sport event celebrated in New Delhi, India from 4 to 11 March 1951. The Ga ...

) was combined with a flame from Mrapen in a ceremony at the

Prambanan Prambanan ( id, Candi Prambanan, jv, ꦫꦫꦗꦺꦴꦁꦒꦿꦁ, Rara Jonggrang) is a 9th-century Hindu temple compound in Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, dedicated to the Trimūrti, the expression of God as the Creator (Brahma), the P ...

temple.

Extinguished

The flame went out on September 25, 2020; the cause of its extinguishing is being investigated. Officials are planning to relight the flame pending the results of this investigation.

References

{{Coord, -7.022662537676815, -110.69988573720579, display=title

External links

Api Abadi Mrapen
at JavaTourism.com category:grobogan Regency Eternal flames Tourist attractions in Indonesia Geography of Central Java