Mrapen

Mrapen (Indonesian: Api Abadi Mrapen) is the name of an eternal flame that is the result of natural geologic activity. The Mrapen eternal flame is located in Manggarmas village, Godong District, about 26 kilometers from Purwodadi Grobogan district, Central Java, Indonesia. This eternal flame was created through natural geological phenomena; the leaking of natural gas from the ground. It was unknown when the gas leakage was ignited, but the Mrapen flame was already known in the 15th century Demak Sultanate era. It was mentioned that the sacred kris heirloom dagger of Demak Sultanate was forged in the Mrapen flame. The flame never extinguishes, not even in the middle of rain or winds.

The Mrapen eternal flame is considered sacred in Javanese culture, and it is used in annual Waisak Buddhist ceremony to be brought to Mendut and Borobudur temple together with sacred water from Umbul Jumprit spring. It was also used for several torch relay for multi sport events held in Indonesia. The first time it was used in GANEFO sport event held on 1 November 1963. Later every Pekan Olahraga Nasional (Indonesian National Sport Week) always used Mrapen flame, followed by 1997 Southeast Asian Games, 2008 Asian Beach Games, 2011 Southeast Asian Games, and 2011 ASEAN ParaGames.

External links

• Mrapen at official site of Grobogan district - inactive
• Mrapen at unofficial site of Grobogan district - inactive
• Api Abadi Mrapen at JavaTourism.com