M

uslims in Batudaa district, Gorontalo regency, have had their spirits boosted to complete the fasting month by a traditional event held in the middle of Ramadhan.

During the traditional event, residents open their homes for one evening and serve dishes for relatives and guests as a sign of gratitude and joy. The hosts usually prepare ripe bananas and roasted peanuts that are then handed out to their guests. Some households even hire sound systems and keyboard players to enliven the evening.

Locals call it the malam qunut (qunut evening) celebration. During the evening, people perform a qunut witir (a non-obligatory prayer) after performing the tarawih (additional prayer service during Ramadhan).

Batudaa resident Jama Mano said during this year'€™s celebration, he invited relations from the same clan to strengthen family ties.

'€œSome members of the family will travel to their hometowns ahead of Idul Fitri, so this is a good moment to strengthen our ties and apologize to one another for our mistakes,'€ he said.

This year, malam qunut fell on July 14. Locals poured onto the streets in Batudaa, where they struggled with the hectic traffic and noisy vehicles.

'€œThis is my first time celebrating malam qunut in Batudaa. I was curious after learning about it from my friends. They said it would be lively and it turned out to be true,'€ said Fitri Patricia, 16, who attended the event with a number of friends from Gorontalo city.

The main attraction was to be found at Batudaa Square, where a night bazaar was held for three days prior to the qunut celebration.

The bazaar featured an array of merchandise, but vendors selling ripe bananas and roasted peanuts dominated the area.

A liter of roasted peanuts cost between Rp 5,000 (43 US cents) and Rp 10,000, while a bunch of bananas was priced at between Rp 12,000 and Rp 15,000.

One elderly resident, Tahir Angio, 77, said the tradition had originally been initiated by two banana and peanut sellers named kakek (grandpa) Iki and kakek Bali Abu, who sold their food items every malam qunut during the 1950s. He said the two vendors became familiar figures among the area'€™s youngsters, who performed the tarawih prayer at the local mosque. After the prayer, the youngsters would enjoy bananas and roasted peanuts while making small talk.

Since then, Tahir said many vendors started selling bananas and peanuts at the district market during malam qunut. The tradition began to thrive and attracted many visitors from outside the district. Local residents also used the event as an occasion to invite their relatives and friends to their homes.