Mt.Bromo is a volcanic mountain in Java which attracts lot of visitors every year.  It lies in a tiny little village called Probalingo. The moment you get closer to this village the mountains look more scenic than ever before. And it’s always refreshing to stay in a village especially in Indonesia. Interesting stuff one could notice is the main hall of the hotel had depiction of Ramayana characters on the walls. This surprised us to a great deal! The locals told us Hindu kings who ruled some parts of Java spread Hinduism across this Island.

As the sun set, temperatures started going down. I never expected Java to be so cold and also didn’t have any warm clothing.  Kept having hot tea to keep myself warm.  Lucky me, Zed my English friend had an extra jerkin and that helped me for the night.

Mt.Bromo:

Mount Bromo is an active volcano and this belongs to the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park. The name Bromo was derived from Javanese pronunciation of Brahma, the Hindu creator god. It has erupted quite a few times in the last few years and last being in 2015.

Festivel – Yadnya Kasada

On the fourteenth day of the Hindu festival of Yadnya Kasada, the Tenggerese people of Probolinggo, travel up the mountain in order to make offerings of fruit, rice, vegetables, flowers and sacrifices of livestock to the mountain gods by throwing them into the caldera of the volcano. The origin of the ritual lies in the 15th century where a princess named Roro Anteng and her husband, Joko Seger were childless and therefore pleaded the assistance of the mountain gods. The gods granted them 24 children but stipulated that the 25th child, named Kesuma, must be thrown into the volcano as a human sacrifice. The god’s request was implemented. The tradition of throwing sacrifices into the volcano to appease these ancient deities continues today and is called the Yadnya Kasada ceremony. Though fraught with danger, some locals risk climbing down into the crater in an attempt to recollect the sacrificed goods that they believe could bring them good luck.

Next morning, we got up early and after quick tea, set off to see Mt.Bromo during sun rise. Lot many jeeps lined up and there was heavy traffic. When we reached the destination, it was pitch dark and after a while sun started showing up slowly. The Golden colour light falling on Mt. Bromo was bliss.  I was thrilled to see something spectacular and smoke coming out from Mt.Bromo along with Mt.Semuru at background was a treat to the eyes.

After that we climbed up the crater and could see smoke all over.  There were quite a lot of locals selling flowers and other stuff which people threw into the volcano for good luck. But we decided against it and walked back for some photo session. There were ashes all over and when vehicles or horse run over it, that gives a smoky look with the magnificent mountains on the backdrop.