Men, Mountains and The Sea, by Rony Zakaria

IPA 04/10/2012 Photography, PROJECTS 24 Comments

Men, Mountains and The Sea

Divided by 17,000 island and located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, Indonesia is home for more than 150 active volcanoes and distinctly marked by a coastline spans over 80,000 km. This project documents an ongoing history of people and communities whose life affected by two major entities for Indonesians, the mountains and the sea.

Photographer: Rony Zakaria | Website: www.ronyzakaria.com

GALLERY

The Tengger Caldera, Mt. Bromo, Mt. Batok & Mt Semeru, East Java at night, just before the peak ceremony of Hindu Yadnya Kasada festival where Tengger people seek blessing from the main deity Hyang Widi Wasa by offering rice, fruit, livestock and other local produce and throwing them to the crater of Mt. Bromo, believing it as a representation of Hyang Widi Wasa.

A mountaineer at the top of Mt. Merapi (2,968m) with Mt. Sindoro and Mt. Sumbing on the background. Mt. Merapi is one of the most active among 150 volcanoes in Indonesia with Merapi has erupted more than 80 times with the most recent one in 2006.

Cemorolawang village seen at dawn from Mt. Pananjakan. Most of the total 6,000 people of Tengger tribe live in this village work generally as farmers. The presence of volcanoes creates a super fertile volcanic land giving the locals more harvests, sometimes as many as three times than their fellow farmers elsewhere.

A Tenggerese holyman tranced before a ceremony in Pura Agung Poten which part of the annual Hindu Yadnya Kasada festival in Tengger caldera, East Java, Indonesia. During the festival, Tenggerese people seek blessing from the main deity Hyang Widi Wasa by offering rice, fruit, livestock and other local produce and throwing them to the crater.

A man stands in Mt. Bromo crater waiting for Tengger people throw offerings. Poor Javanese people from surrounding village in East Java came and camped at the Mt. Bromo crater to try catching and collecting offerings that are thrown by the Tengger tribe using self-made nets during the Yadnya Kasada festival. During the festival, Tenggerese people seek blessing from the main deity Hyang Widi Wasa by offering rice, fruit, livestock and other local produce and throwing them to the crater.

Tenggerese Hindu clerics pass waterfalls after collecting holy water from Madakaripura waterfall as a part of the annual Hindu Yadnya Kasada festival. During the festival, Tenggerese people seek blessing from the main deity Hyang Widi Wasa by offering rice, fruit, livestock and other local produce and throwing them to the crater.

Javanese people from the surrounding villages in East Java came and camped at the Mt. Bromo crater to try catching and collecting offerings that are thrown by the Tengger tribe using self-made nets during the Yadnya Kasada festival. During the festival, Tenggerese people seek blessing from the main deity Hyang Widi Wasa by offering rice, fruit, livestock and other local produce and throwing them to the crater.

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A Tenggerese Hindu cleric before a ceremony in Pura Agung Poten which part of the annual Hindu Yadnya Kasada festival in Tengger caldera, East Java, Indonesia. During the festival, Tenggerese people seek blessing from the main deity Hyang Widi Wasa by offering rice, fruit, livestock and other local produce and throwing them to the crater.

The Southern sea overlooked from Parangritis beach, Central Java. Parangtritis is one of the most popular beach in island of Java, it is also one of its deadliest. With strong down current and high tides many have drown. There is an unsaid prohibition among locals to not wear greenish clothes in the beach.

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Several fishermen prepares for other fishermen who are coming ashore while visitors watching. Bordered with the Indian Ocean and despite the high waves and strong current the sea supported the fishermen from Depok beach with rich and vast kind of fish to catch.

Tourists at Parangtritis beach enjoy a sunset just before dusk. Parangtritis is one of the most popular beach in island of Java, it is also one of its deadliest. There were 339 accidents since 1991 resulting 107 people drown. During holidays as many as 60,000 people visited Parangtritis.

A devout traditional Javanese believer prays at the slope of Mt. Merapi during a Labuhan ritual to commemorate the coronation of the Sultan of Yogyakarta. Mt. Merapi along Parangkusumo in the south are believed by traditional Javanese as two entities that hold the harmony of life in Yogyakarta. When natural disasters or major incidents occurred in the region, the people throw ceremonies and offer scarification to Merapi and the Southern Sea in Parangtritis beach.

Lava flows from Mt. Merapi crater on November 3rd, 2010. Merapi is the most active volcano in Indonesia which on this year eruption caused 50,000 people take refuge in shelters.

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A Balinese holds a fowl in a preparation ceremony before being sacrificed for a purification ritual called Mecaru in a temple in Bali. Balinese believe Mecaru is important to cleanse evil spirits, often sacrificing animals in the sea.

A Balinese ‘washed’ a sacred traditional mask in the sea during a purification ceremony at Batubolong beach, Bali. The gold and pearl elements part of the mask was stolen weeks earlier and the locals want to throw out the evil trace of the burglar towards the sea. Balinese believe that gods and ancestors live in the mountains whereas demons live in the sea.

Mt. Merbabu and Mt. Merapi are seen on the background of Yogyakarta city, Central Java. Located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, Indonesia is often struck with earthquakes, Tsunamis and volcano eruptions. Yogyakarta itself was hit by a massive earthquake in May 2006 which reported killing 6,234 people.

A Balinese man after washing himself at the Watuklotok Beach, Bali. Balinese believe that gods and ancestors live in the mountains whereas demons live in the sea.

Traces at Parangtritis beach, Central Java. Indonesia is home for over 150 volcanoes, most of them are active and has a coastline spans to 80,000 kilometers. This two entities affected most of the total 230 million Indonesians, not just in their daily lives but also spiritually and culture-wise.

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Comments 24

DipayanBhattacharjee
21/11/2012 at 11:40 pm

Photo Essay: Men, Mountains and The Sea, by Rony Zakaria | Invisible Ph t grapher Asia (IPA) — http://t.co/DQTQ5tKO

Reply
Fransiskus Kurniawan
06/11/2012 at 4:19 pm

Good stuff from photographer Rony Zakaria — Indonesia: Men, Mountains, Sea. http://t.co/ldKhKGfX v @InvisPhotogAsia

Reply
IPA
06/11/2012 at 4:13 pm

Good stuff from photographer Rony Zakaria — Indonesia: Men, Mountains, Sea. http://t.co/ldKhKGfX v @InvisPhotogAsia

Reply
John Edwin Mason
06/11/2012 at 4:12 pm

Good stuff from photographer Rony Zakaria — Indonesia: Men, Mountains, Sea. http://t.co/ldKhKGfX v @InvisPhotogAsia

Reply
LeicaStore Haussmann
06/11/2012 at 10:37 am

http://t.co/kxbMBxhy http://t.co/o4gYhwtv

Reply
LeicaStore Haussmann
06/11/2012 at 10:37 am

http://t.co/kxbMBxhy http://t.co/4xC25t4a

Reply
Kelly Mac
06/11/2012 at 8:57 am

Must just be a B&W day…stunning images:… http://t.co/YexhAXYF

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Ezra Millstein
06/11/2012 at 8:29 am

Photo Essay: Men, Mountains and The Sea, by Rony Zakaria http://t.co/6s2gkhAO

Reply
Try Not To Faint
16/10/2012 at 3:05 pm

Breathtaking Photo Essay: Men, Mountains and The Sea, by Rony Zakaria. via @JuergenBuergin http://t.co/ImTtLQ7A http://t.co/y7JD66Tm

Reply
esther andrade
16/10/2012 at 1:01 pm

Photo Essay: Men, Mountains and The Sea, by Rony Zakaria http://t.co/GHMr25pA

Reply
Isabell Zipfel
16/10/2012 at 12:54 pm

Awesome work: RT @JuergenBuergin Photo Essay: Men, Mountains and The Sea, by Rony Zakaria http://t.co/dpIaxN4U

Reply
Crewe Photo Soc
16/10/2012 at 12:52 pm

Photo Essay: Men, Mountains and The Sea, by Rony Zakaria http://t.co/GHMr25pA

Reply
Juergen Buergin
16/10/2012 at 12:43 pm

Photo Essay: Men, Mountains and The Sea, by Rony Zakaria http://t.co/GHMr25pA

Reply
David Lo
09/10/2012 at 11:14 am

Beautiful work!

Reply
RedFrames
08/10/2012 at 12:03 pm

Men, Mountains and the Sea, by Rony Zakaria. http://t.co/n4atWe9q #PhotoStory

Reply
yohanes prima
05/10/2012 at 2:38 am

Photo Essay: Men, Mountains and The Sea, by Rony Zakaria http://t.co/zJv30kOJ

Reply
John R. Fulton Jr.
04/10/2012 at 10:49 am

Via @InvisPhotogAsia: Photo Essay: Men, Mountains and The Sea, by Rony Zakaria. #ipaphotoasia http://t.co/9KCuNp9R
/ #welldone #Photography

Reply
PhotojournSG
04/10/2012 at 10:15 am

Photo Essay: Men, Mountains and The Sea, by Rony Zakaria http://t.co/1eWoBLPT #photojournalism

Reply
Tommy N. Armansyah
04/10/2012 at 9:30 am

RT @InvisPhotogAsia: Photo Essay: Men, Mountains and The Sea, by @ronyzakaria. #ipaphotoasia http://t.co/do6wo1jI

Reply
made nagi
04/10/2012 at 9:26 am

RT @InvisPhotogAsia: Photo Essay: Men, Mountains and The Sea, by @ronyzakaria. #ipaphotoasia http://t.co/do6wo1jI

Reply
tomhoops
04/10/2012 at 9:21 am

http://t.co/DJK4bkjt Some beautiful stuff in here.. #Rony Zakaaria

Reply
Rony Zakaria
04/10/2012 at 9:15 am

RT @InvisPhotogAsia: Photo Essay: Men, Mountains and The Sea, by @ronyzakaria. #ipaphotoasia http://t.co/do6wo1jI

Reply
Gyaista Sampurno
04/10/2012 at 9:06 am

Photo Essay: Men, Mountains and The Sea, by Rony Zakaria. #ipaphotoasia http://t.co/hmKOAhgC

Reply
IPA
04/10/2012 at 8:56 am

Photo Essay: Men, Mountains and The Sea, by Rony Zakaria. #ipaphotoasia http://t.co/hmKOAhgC

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