It was a bright Sunday morning on Sept. 3 in the village of Plaosan in Klaten regency, Central Java, near the famous Prambanan temple. Dozens of ox-drawn carts had arrived since 3 a.m. Their drivers, locally known as bajingan (which literally means bastards), were feeding their oxen and decorating their carts for the 2017 Plaosan Prambanan Cart Festival.

The number of carts reached 109 as participants arrived from across the regency. The drivers had brought along family members to support them in the festival.

Tasked with picking three winners, the jury members began to inspect and score each cart.

The carts must go through Prambanan village – where participants must pass the Hindu temple and traverse rice fields – before finishing at the Plaosan twin temple.

The event is part of the three-day Twin Temple Festival, where visitors also enjoyed traditional dance performances, wayang kulit (shadow puppet) shows and more.

The organizers expressed their hope that the festival would popularize the Plaosan twin temple among domestic and foreign tourists, as it was less known than the nearby Prambanan temple. [yan]