Pilgrimage to Mount Bromo, Indonesia

This chapter examines the pilgrimage tradition of the Tenggerese people, a Javanese ethnic group in Eastern Java, who travel to Mount Bromo during their celebration of the Yadnya Kasada or Kosodo festival to make offerings to the mountain gods. After looking at tourism to the island of Java more generally, the chapter discusses the history of this pilgrimage and looks at the significance of this pilgrimage for both the Tenggerese people and tourism officials and marketers, who have used this pilgrimage to promote religious tourism to the area. Attention is then turned to looking at the problems that have arisen because of the commodification of this pilgrimage ritual, before concluding with some recommendations for overcoming these issues.