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Blitar youths visit houses of worship to mark International Day for Tolerance
In villages far from large cities, religious differences were never an obstacle among communities.
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A Sufi dance performance takes place in Buddhist temple Vihara Dharma Mitra Arama in Malang, East Java, on Nov. 18. (JP/Nedi Putra AW)
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group of men and women in traditional Javanese attire greeted on Sunday a group of youths from the Gusdurian interfaith community in front of the gate of their temple on the foot of Mt. Kelud in Blitar, East Java.
The men and women are caretakers of Pura Sapto Argo Sido Langgeng, a Hindu temple located in Tulungrejo, Gandusari district, some 35 kilometers northeast of Blitar.
The visit of 24 youths from Gusdurian — most of whom were Muslims — was part of the community’s trip to a number of houses of worship of different faiths and religions in Blitar regency, conducted to commemorate the International Day for Tolerance on Nov. 16.
The temple’s caretakers took the youths on a tour around and inside the temple, explaining sections of the temple along with their respective functions and philosophy.
“We are worshippers of Javanese Hindu,” religious leader Bagus Sapto of Sido Langgeng temple told the visiting youths.
He said Hindu people have resided in Blitar at least since the Kediri kingdom in the 10th century. When many Hindu people left the region for Bali following the fall of the Majapahit kingdom in the 16th century, some chose to stay in Blitar.
Currently, there are some 30,000 Hindu followers in Blitar, or the third-largest Hindu population in East Java after Banyuwangi and Surabaya in East Java. Being close to Bali, the stronghold of Indonesian Hindus, accounts for the high number of Hindu worshippers in Banyuwangi.
