Photostream : Funeral ceremony of Mbah Maridjan, the spiritual guardian of the Indonesian volcano Mount Merapi

Residents pray at the tomb of the spiritual guardian of Mount Merapi, Mbah Maridjan already buried today in Srunen Hamlet, Village Glagaharjo, Cangkringan, Sleman, Yogyakarta, on Thursday (10/28/2010). Photo : KOMPAS IMAGES/KRISTIANTO PURNOMO

Thousands of mourners attended the funeral ceremony the spiritual guardian of Mount Merapi, Mbah Maridjan conducted on Thursday (10/28/2010) in Srunen Hamlet, Village Glagaharjo, Cangkringan, Sleman, Yogyakarta, on Thursday (10/28/2010). Photo : KOMPAS IMAGES

The bodies of Mbah Maridjan, the spiritual guardian of Mount Merapi is inserted into the grave. Mbah Maridjan already buried today in Srunen Hamlet, Village Glagaharjo, Cangkringan, Sleman, Yogyakarta, on Thursday (10/28/2010). Photo : KOMPAS IMAGES/KRISTIANTO PURNOMO

Mbah Maridjan ("Grandfather Maridjan") was the spiritual guardian of the Indonesian volcano Mount Merapi. He was killed at the age of 83 by a pyroclastic flow that hit the village of Kinahrejo during the 2010 eruption of Mount Merapi. Maridjan was the son of the previous guardian. He was appointed to the palace staff of the Sultan of Yogyakarta, Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX, in 1970 and was given the title of Mas Penewu Suroksohargo. He replaced his father as gatekeeper in 1982