Mount Bromo

About Mount Bromo

Mount Bromo (Indonesian: Gunung Bromo), is an active volcano and part of the Tengger massif, in East Java, Indonesia. At 2,329 metres (7,641 ft) it is not the highest peak of the massif, but is the most well known. The massif area is one of the most visited tourist attractions in East Java, Indonesia. The volcano belongs to the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park. The name of Bromo derived from Javanese pronunciation of Brahma, the Hindu creator god.



Mount Bromo sits in the middle of a vast plain called the "Sea of Sand" (Javanese: Segara Wedi or Indonesian: Lautan Pasir), a protected nature reserve since 1919. The typical way to visit Mount Bromo is from the nearby mountain village of Cemoro Lawang. From there it is possible to walk to the volcano in about 45 minutes, but it is also possible to take an organised jeep tour, which includes a stop at the viewpoint on Mount Penanjakan (2,770 m or 9,088 ft) (Indonesian: Gunung Penanjakan). The best views from Mount Bromo to the Sand Sea below and the surrounding volcanoes are at sunrise. The viewpoint on Mount Penanjakan can also be reached on foot in about two hours. From inside the caldera, sulfur is collected by workers.


Depending on the degree of volcanic activity, the Indonesian Centre for Vulcanology and Disaster Hazard Mitigation sometimes issues warnings against visiting Mount Bromo. The list of outstanding warnings may be consulted at the Indonesian-language website of the Centre.

Ecosystem

According to height and temperature differences, the forests within the area can be classified into three zones:

Sub-montane zone (750–1,500 m)

This zone is classified as a tropical rainforest. It can be found in the southern area of Semeru, East Semeru (Burno), and West Semeru (Patok Picis). This zone is dominated with plants of the family Fagaceae, Moraceae, Anacardiaceae, Sterculiaceae, and Rubiaceae. There are also liana trees, such as a variety from the genus Calamus, Piper, Asplenium, and Begonia, and other plants from the family Araceae, Poaceae, and Zingiberaceae. There are also 225 species of orchid in this area.

Montane zone (1,500–2,440 m)

Plant life is greatly reduced in this area. Most of the species that grow in this area are pioneer species. There are also some wooden plants such as cemara (Casuarina junghuhniana), mentinggi gunung (Vaccinium varingifolium), kemlandingan gunung (Albizia lophantha), acacia bark (Acacia decurrens) and bottom plants such as Javanese Edelweiss or Senduro (Anaphalis longifongila and Anaphalis javanica), (Imperata cylindrica, Pteris sp., Themeda sp. and Centella asiatica.

The Tengger Sand Sea in Tengger Caldera is a special ecosystem. The area is covered in volcanic sedimentation of sand from Mount Bromo activities. The resulting area is believed to be the only known desert-like area in Indonesia. The Tengger Sand Sea has been protected since 1919.

Subalpine zone (above 2,400 m)

The flora that cover this area are mentinggi gunung (Vaccinium varingifolium) and cemara (Casuarina junghuhniana). Kemlandingan gunung (Albizia lophantha) and Javanese Edelweiss can also be found growing in this zone.

On Mount Semeru, there is no plant life above the altitude of 3,100 m. This zone is covered in loose sandstones.

Flora and Fauna

Some endangered flora are protected in this park, such as Fagaceae, Moraceae, Sterculiaceae, Casuarina junghuhniana, Javanese Edelweiss, and about 200 species of endemic orchids.

There is a relatively small diversity of fauna in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park. There are about 137 species of birds, 22 species of mammals and 4 species of reptiles protected in the national park. Examples are Besra, Green Peafowl, Javan Rusa, Dhole, Crabeating Macaque, Marbled cat and Leopard

Culture

Tenggerese

The Tenggerese are the descendants of the Majapahit princes. Their population of roughly 600,000 is centered in thirty villages in the isolated Tengger mountains (Mount Bromo) within the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park in East-Central Java.

Scattered communities of Tenggerese also exist in the Pasuruan, Probolinggo, Malang, and Lumajang districts of eastern Java. They are traditionally believed to be the descendants of Roro Anteng and Joko Seger.

Language

The Tenggerese speak an archaic Javanese (Majapahit) dialect called Tengger. Elements of modern Javanese influences can be seen in their speech. They have their own written Kavi script based on the old Javanese Brahmi type.

Religion

The Tenggerese generally profess Hinduism as their religion, although they have incorporated many Buddhist and Animist elements. Like theBalinese, they worship Ida Sang Hyang Widi Wasa (Roughly "Big Almighty Lord") for blessings in addition to other Hindu and Buddhist gods that include the Tri Murti, namely Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu and Buddha. Their places of worship include the Punden, Poten and Danyang. The Poten is a sacred area of ground at Mt. Bromo's Sand sea, and becomes the focus of the annual Kasada Ceremony. Within the Poten, it contains several buildings and enclosures, arranged in a specific composition called the Mandalas (Zones).

The Tenggerese also worship a host of spirits (ancestor worship). They include cikal bakal, the spirits of the founders of the village, the roh bahurekso, the village guardian spirits and the roh leluhur, the spirits of the ancestors. Rituals to propitiate these spirits are conducted by special priests. During these rites little doll-like figures representing the spirits are clothed in batik cloth and are presented with food and drink. It is believed that the spirits partake of the essence of these offerings. The Bromo volcano is considered one of the most sacred places. If it erupts, they believe that their god is very angry.

The Tenggerese gave offerings to the gods in different forms. One of these, Sajenan, is presented to the guardian deities by the priest in formal liturgy. For different occasions different sorts of food are offered as Sajenan. For instance, during weddings a cone of rice, Tumpeng Walagara, is offered, and this is considered to be a source of blessing for the couple as well as the whole village. The second sort of food offering, called Suguhan, are those that are offered by ordinary Tengger Hindus to their ancestral spirits. The third type, Tamping, are food offerings to evil spirits so as to ward off bad luck, and typically consist of meat, rice and bananas wrapped up in leaves and placed at places considered inauspicious such as cemeteries, bridges and road intersections.

Their priests are called Dukun or Resi Pujangga, who play a middle role in their religious worship. They are believed to possess spiritual knowledge called Ilmu of the gods and the spirits, which they carefully guard from ordinary Tenggers. Membership of the priesthood is hereditary, and generally passes down from father to son. Each village has only one of these three priests, together with three assistants, namely Legen, Sepuh and Dandan.

However, in the past few decades, due to over-population in Madura, many Madurese settlers have exploited the Tenggerese land by clearing some of their nature reserves for land and converted 2-3% (up to 10,000 of them) of the Tenggerese to Islam in the process, particularly those living in the more accessible areas in the lowlands just outside the Tengger range. Because of this Islamic missionary activity, the remaining Hindu Tenggerese asked the Balinese Hindus for help by reforming their culture and religion closer to the Balinese. The Indonesian government finally declared the Tengger mountains as the Bromo-Tengger-Semeru national park, and has also declared that any more logging in this area is an illegal act.

Both Muslim and Christian missionaries have attempted to convert the Tenggerese. However, the Christians had little success; they only managed to convert a few hundred to Christianity. Even so, due to the negligible number of them, most of them either reverted back to Hinduism or converted to Islam. The Tenggerese Muslims have a more successful conversion, though they frequently mix original Hindu-Buddhist ideas and spirits to their Islam and celebrate Tenggerese festivals at the same time

Lifestyle

The Tenggerese are basically either agriculturalists or nomadic herders. The agriculturalists generally live on the lower altitudes, while the nomads live on the higher altitudes, riding on small horses.

Festival and Sacrifice

The main festival of the Tenggerese is the Yadnya Kasada, which lasts about a month. On the fourteenth day of the Kasada, the Tenggerese go to Poten Bromo and ask for blessing from the main deity Hyang Widi Wasa and the God of the Mountain (Mount Semeru) by presenting annual offerings of rice, fruit, vegetables, flowers, livestock and other local produce. They will also see the examination of the medicine men memorizing prayers. The medicine man who passes the exam is chosen to be spiritual leader of Tengger tribe.

The origin of this festival is a legend which dates back to the Majapahit kingdom, during the reign of King Brawijaya, in which the queen of the Kingdom gave birth to a daughter named Roro Anteng, who married Jaka Seger, a young man from the Brahmin caste.

According to the legend, Roro Anteng and Jaka Seger were among many others who fled from the already tattering Majapahit kingdom during the 15th century, when the Islamic religion was gaining followers rapidly. The couple later settled in the Tengger mountains and ruled the region jointly under the title Purbawisesa Mangkurat Ing Tengger.

For a few years the Tenggerese people flourished under the leadership of Jaka Seger and Roro Anteng, yet the king and queen were unhappy for they had no children. Desperate, they decided to climb to the top of Mt. Bromo and pray for help. Deeply moved by the couple's depth of his faith, the god of Mt. Bromo assured them of offspring but with the condition that the youngest child be sacrificed in the crater of the volcano. After giving birth to twenty-five children, the time came for Roro Anteng and to fulfil her part of the pledge. Although they were reluctant, they were threatened with catastrophe, forcing them to futfil their pledge and complying the god's wishes, they have no choice but to sacrifice their 25th child, Kesuma, by throwing him into the crater

Activitiy and Eruptions

Mount Bromo erupted in:

1. 2004 eruption


2. 2010 eruption


3. 2011 eruption