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