Indonesian villagers throw chickens, fruit, goats, and money into a live volcano as an offering to their gods. Hundreds of Indonesian people known as the Tengger Hindus travel to Mount Bromo every year for a religious festival.
The Yadnya Kasad Festival often lasts a month and on the 14th day, the Tengger people throw offerings to the gods. Livestock, vegetables, fruit, money, and other valuables are hurled into the center of the active volcano on July 21.
The ceremony started in the 15th century when a princess asked the mountain gods for children and was granted 24.
She was told that her last child, number 25, was to be offered as a sacrifice and thrown into the volcano. Although human sacrifices no longer exist the Tengger people throw offerings for good fortune and a good harvest.
A plume of thick grey smoke erupting from Mount Bromo in Probolinggo, East Java, Indonesia is a sign for the Tengger people to ready themselves for the annual Yadnya Kasada Festival.
Hundreds of Indonesians armed with nets trek into the heart of the live volcanic crater to show their gratitude to the gods for a good harvest and fortune to be bestowed upon them for the year.
Tengger Hindus have participated in the ceremony dating back as early as the 15th century throwing a range of offerings which include vegetables, fruits, goats, chickens, money, and other valuables during the festival which lasts a month.
Tenggerese people of Probolinggo scale 2,329-meter high live volcano, before entering the edge of the large crater. Taking position people are seen hurling offerings into the crater using their nets after the long trek to the volcano caldera.
The ceremony is held on the 14th day of the Hindu festival and is believed to have originated when a princess named Roro Anteng and her husband Joko Seger called on the assistance of the gods.
The couple had been childless and asked the gods for children, when they were granted 24 children but told that the 25th child must be thrown into the volcano as a human sacrifice.
While human sacrifices are no longer used, the tradition of throwing offerings still exists to appease the deities in the ritual known as the Yadnya Kasada ceremony. Blessings from the deity of Mount Bromo, Hyang Widi Wasa, and Mahadeva, the god of the mountain ensure the Tengger people will be presented good fortunes as long as the ceremony continues.
The ceremony is only one of the many extraordinary sights that can be witnessed on the active volcano. Mount Bromo is noted for its spectacular sunrises and majestic views all the way to the Semeru Volcano located further behind it.
Brilliant pictures of billowing red smoke over the blanched plain were captured in the otherworldly landscape in 2013.
Photographer Helminadia Jabur, 36, said: ‘Ever since I saw some images of the volcano, I just could not help myself to visit the area and capture it.’ Mount Bromo sits above the plain named The Sea of Sand and is the highest peak in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park.
The area was made a national park in 1919 and many tourists now take the traditional 45-minute walk up the volcano – or use the more modern method of a jeep to tour the area.
