Hindu ritual attracts C. Kalimantan visitors

Hindu ritual attracts C. Kalimantan visitors

SAMPIT, Central Kalimantan: A Hindu ritual to invite spirits of
the dead and guide them to the afterlife is now drawing local and
foreign tourists to Kotawaringin Timur regency in Central
Kalimantan.

Known as Tiwah, it comprises ceremonies of a local Kaharingan
Hindu sect, which lasts from June 17 to July 25 in the Katingan
catchment area, particularly in the regency's Pendahara village.

Titin Srikandi of the regency's tourism office said in Sampit
on Friday the ritual was an annual event and this year it got an
enthusiastic response from travel agents and hotels in
Yogyakarta, Lombok and Bali.

Also held in two other river basin areas, the Hindu form of
ancestral worship will reach its climax on July 15, when the
bones of the dead are to be exhumed and the presence of their
spirits solicited, before the ghosts are guided to the life
hereafter.

Pendahara village is around four hours' drive from Sampit and
three hours from Palangka Raya, the province's capital.--Antara