Pilgrims Centre Earth

To the of the

They were all waiting for the same thing. When a squawking chicken tumbled over the volcano’s rim into their line of sight, nets moved in unison trying to predict the hapless fowl’s trajectory. Only one villager might have enough luck to bag the bird; while others can only wait for more to come.

It’s not only chickens that fall into the smoky, gaping mouth of Mount Bromo, located in Indonesia’s East Java. Fruit, rice and money are some other objects that net-wielders in the volcano might find themselves trying to catch. The source of these items is a crowd of ethnic Tengger worshippers perched on the narrow crater lip, performing a sacrifice ritual as part of the Yadnya Kasada festivities.

Sacrifices to a God

Held on the fourteenth day of the Kasada month in the Javanese calendar, Yadnya Kasada is the most significant festival for the Tengger people, an ethnic minority in East Java. On this day, Tenggerese from all over East Java make a long trek to ascend the isolated Mount Bromo and make offerings to Ida Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa (“Big Almighty Lord”) and their ancestors. Food and livestock are thrown by worshippers into the volcano’s crater, in hope that blessings of safety and prosperity may be received for their families and communities.

During this ritual, some people make their way into the crater in order to try and collect these offerings. While many of these scavengers can be non-tenggerese, some worshippers believe that taking such offerings home will bring good luck, too.

With a population of roughly 90,000 that is concentrated in some thirty villages surrounding Mount Bromo, the Tengger people are Java’s secondsmallest ethnic group. Although most Tenggerese

Years later, the couple were faithful to their vow. Although unwilling to part with the child, the couple fulfilled their promise to avoid catastrophe befalling the Tengger people. And so the community began their lasting tradition of sacrifices on Mount Bromo – though instead of humans, the Tenggerese now offer farm produce and livestock as tribute. It is believed that this ritual was necessary to appease the gods, which will prevent the volcano from erupting.

The Tengger Caldera

Mount Bromo’s name comes from the Javanese pronunciation of “Brahma”, the Hindu god of creation. It is one of five volcanic cones that sit within the