Moment to remember:  Hundreds of members of the Yohanes Rasul Church congregation perform a reenactment of Jesus Christ'€™s death in the hilly Gunung Gandul area in Wonogiri, Central Java, on Friday. The procession, which started with the arrest of Jesus and depicted the crucifixion, paraded up a hill and lasted for two hours. (JP/Ganug Nugroho Adi)

Christians across the country observed Good Friday commemorating the death of Jesus Christ with local cultural nuances.

In Gorontalo, for example, congregations from the Maranatha Protestant Church in Limboto will hold a parade with torches on Saturday night.

The parade is adopted from the Tumbilotohe celebration, normally conducted by local Muslims three days before of the end of the Ramadhan fasting month.

'€œDespite being a minority, Christians in Gorontalo have assimilated with the local Muslim majority, including with their traditions,'€ Derek Anderhey Puasa, a member of the congregation, said on Friday.

Meanwhile, in Kupang city, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), a procession of the Cross was held at Nostalgia Park on Thursday night by the youth council of the Timor Evangelical Church'€™s (GMIT) local chapter. Mayor Jonas Salean officially marked the start of the event.

Erens Blegur, the chairman of the youth council, said the procession was the fourth held so far, with 43 churches and denominations as well as Catholic youth participating this year.

The procession also involved youth from the Namosain subdistrict Mosque.

Erens said the procession symbolized how Christian youth observed and implemented the spirit of Easter in daily life.

'€œIf they have just heard about the story, now they can see clearly the true tragedy that happened 2,000 years ago,'€ he said.

The procession passed through nine churches in the city and ended on Friday morning. Good Friday is part of the Easter celebration, which is set to fall on Sunday.

NTT police'€™s spokesperson Adj. Sr. Comr. Jules Abast said 1,700 police personnel had been deployed in the province'€™s 21 regencies and cities to secure Easter celebrations.

Meanwhile, members of GP Ansor, the youth wing of the country'€™s largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, also took part in securing Easter celebrations throughout the province.

'€œAll of our personnel have joined with the security apparatus to secure Easter celebrations at every house of worship, including during the Good Friday procession in Larantuka, East Flores,'€ chairman of GP Ansor'€™s NTT branch, Abdul Muis told The Jakarta Post in Kupang on Friday.

Meanwhile, in East Manggarai regency, tenun ikat, a traditional kind of woven cloth from Flores, was worn by the representatives of the 12 apostles during the foot washing ritual at the Santo Arnoldus and Josef Church of Ruteng diocese on Thursday night.

The East Manggarai traditional bamboo cannon and lorang rituals were also conducted for the Good Friday celebration.

The bamboo cannon ritual was originally designed to mark the death of a customary leader, while lorang is a ritual conducted to mourn the death of a love one.

In Wonogiri, Central Java, hundreds from the Yohanes Rasul Church joined the procession of the Cross on the hilly area around Gunung Gandul.

Many were unable to hold back the tears as Catholic youth performed the two-hour procession.

The church'€™s priest, Andreas Suharti, said the spirit of the ceremony on the hill was meant to move the congregation closer to Jesus, who sacrificed himself for the sins of the people.

'€œWe call on people to better appreciate how Jesus sacrificed for them,'€ he said.

Markus Makur in East Manggarai and Ganug Nugroho Adi in Wonogiri contributed to this article.

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