I came across an
interesting ritual recently in a relatively unknown place which caught my
attention. Let me tell you about the ritual first.
This is famously
known as the Yadnya Kasada Festival
which takes place in the month of August. According to this festival, the
Tenggerese people of a province in East Java travel up a mountain which is
known as Mount Bromo and offer fruits, vegetables, rice and even livestock like
chicken, etc. This is a practice that is followed since the fifteenth century
and what is interesting is that Mount Bromo is an active volcano! What is even
more interesting is that before the people make their offerings, many of the
poor locals climb inside the caldera waiting for the offerings with nets, to
catch hold of the offerings for their consumption and also in a believe that
the sacrificial offerings will bring them good luck. People who make the
offerings are aware of it, but there is no objection to it.
People wait inside the caldera with nets to catch the offerings |
According to
local mythology, Roro Anteng a local princess and her husband Joko Seger were
childless for a long time. They appealed to the mountain gods to grant them children.
The gods granted them a boon of 25 children, with a condition that their 25th
child be named Kesuma and should be offered in sacrifice to the gods by
throwing him in the volcano. When the child was born, he was sacrificed by
throwing him in the volcano, though after an initial reluctance from the
parents. The practice is still followed by the local Hindu population, however,
in the form of non-human offerings now.
Many say that
the practice started as a ritual to appease the mountain god to remain calm and
not send down streams of lava, since this is an active volcano.
The aspect which
caught my attention is that besides the fact that this is a Hindu practice,
there isn’t anything to compare with such a practice (at least to my knowledge),
in India. Except for the fact that it lends credence to the prevalence of human
sacrifice in the days of yore, there isn’t any other parallel that I can draw.
Another interesting aspect is that the mountain is named after Lord Brahma
(Bromo is the Javanese pronunciation of Brahma, the Creator). To think that
that there exists a volcano in the name of Brahma, in Java, when there hardly
exists even a temple in India (except in Pushkar) is quite surprising in
itself.
Mount Bromo |
Another aspect
of this ritual is that before people proceed up to the volcano, a ceremony
takes place in a temple called Pura Luhar Poten which is located at the base of
the volcano, where the month long festival of Yadnya Kasada takes place. The
uniqueness of the temple is that unlike all the Balinese temples, this one is
not made up of red bricks and stones. The Pura Luhar Poten temple is made of
black stones from the volcano nearby. Another significance of the festival is
that it also marks the selection of a new spiritual leader who is appointed
after an elaborate examination of his knowledge and faith.
The Tenggerese
are a minority tribe in the majority Islamic Java who follow the teachings of
the Mahayana sect of Buddhism. However, in due course of time they have added
aspects of Hinduism and are sometimes also referred to as Hindus in a more
inclusive way. In the Pura Luhar Poten, the tribesmen worship the Buddha along
with the trinity – Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.
The place is a
great tourist attraction during the month of Yadnya Kasada Festival, which has
its roots in an ancient myth!
Interesting, isn’t
it?