View
of the Bromo / Semeru massif , from Mt. Penanjakan
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Mt.
Bromo is without doubt East Java's most well known attraction.
The pre-dawn departure and trek across the mountain's 'sand sea'
to watch the sun rise at the crater rim has become a daily ritual,
joined by visitors from all over the world. Although by no means
the highest mountain in the region, Bromo has gained a reputation
on account of its fantastic surrounding landscape. Little wonder
that this mountain has been revered for centuries by the local
inhabitants, the Tenggerese, who claim descent from a princess
of Majapahit. Each year, on the fourteenth day of the Tenggerese
month of Kasodo, which falls in December, a special ceremony
is held on the sand sea below the crater of Bromo. Livestock
and agricultural produce are offered to the spirit of the mountain
as a kind of thanksgiving, and as a request for a bountiful harvest
in the coming year. The Tenggerese believe that failure to observe
this annual ceremony will result in a calamity. |
