Enduring hopes on Mt. Bromo

When it’s the full moon in the month of Kasodo, the Tengger community that lives near Mount Bromo, East Java, holds their Kasodo ritual, which is believed to have been performed since the Majapahit era.

On Sunday, recently, the ritual proceeded amid deposits of volcanic ash in the wake of Bromo’s eruption in early May.

The cold morning and thick volcanic dust covering the sandy mountain path and Bromo’s crater did nothing to dampen the zeal of hundreds of people ascending the mountain for a ritual sacrifice. The deep cavity of Bromo — with its shaky rim — was no deterrent.

The crowd threw offerings into the caldera while dozens of others scrambled to grab whatever they could catch in the mouth of the steep depression, without fear.

The Tengger people’s offerings were, among others, money, food, crops and farm animals like chickens and goats. Their sacrifices to the god of Bromo mostly failed to reach the crater, for dozens of scramblers halted them at the edge of the mountain’s pit.

The offerings are believed to protect the Tengger community from any dangers posed by Mount Bromo, and also meant as a plea for blessings and good health in the years to come. The property sacrificed also demonstrates their gratitude for having been endowed with good fortune so far.

This is the ritual of Kasodo, a way of begging the Almighty for a peaceful life, as practiced by these people of the mountain.