Indonesia is a country with cultural diversity spreading across the archipelago. From traditional cloths to art performances, every region has unique style and tradition. From many, cultural festivals become the inviting pieces that escalate curiosity. Here are some extravagant festivals that worth to attend.
- Pacu jawi of West Sumatra is the trilling cow race held at the end of rice harvest season as a celebration and expression of gratitude to God for the yields.
pacu-jawi
- This cow race is commonly held at Tanah Datar Regency and Limapuluh Kota Regency. Traditional cow race is actually common in several parts of Indonesia. In Bali, the tradition is called makepung while Madura has karapan sapi competition. What makes pacu jawi different is the dramatic setting of muddy rice field track to make the attraction very exciting to watch.
- Grebeg mulud of Yogyakarta is yearly tradition of Yogyakarta Sultanate to celebrate the birth of Prophet Muhammad at the 12th day of Mulud in Javanese Calendar.
- grebeg-mulud-of-yogyakarta
- This is actually the main event of Sekaten, a weeklong festival with series of ritual and fair at the Northern Square of Yogyakarta. The main star of grebeg mulud is gunungan, a mountain model made from various vegetables, fruits, sweets, and more foods to symbolize prosperity. Gunungan will be carried by Sultanate guards through several ritual processions that ended at the square where people are free to get the foods. The most exciting part of grebeg is when the people fight over the foods. People will do anything to get even a small food that most of the people believe it as sacred object. Grebeg tradition is also held by Surakarta Sultanate and Demak regularly.
- Pasola of Sumba is traditional bloody game held as a ritual before rice planting season to increase land fertility.
- The game is two groups of people riding horse throwing wooden spears to the opponent. The objective is to make the spear hit bare flesh of the player until the blood spilled to the ground. For people of Sumba, the spilled blood is meant to fertilize the land. Before pasola game, people of Sumba commonly go to the beach to pray and sacrifice a black cock to get the sign whether pasola game should be held or not. They will get the answer from the look of the cock’s heart. The rite will continue by collecting colorful sea worm and the ultimate pasola game.
There are much more cultural festivals in Indonesia. Many festivals are held based on lunar (Islamic) calendar and regional calendar such as Javanese calendar and Balinese calendar so tourist need to check the date for specific year.
are found there. Some graves and tools speak for the history of human inhabitation centuries ago.
since 1994. In the world, Lake Sentarum is one of most bio-diverse lake systems with hundreds of fish species, mammals, birds, reptile, and vegetation. So far, about 240 fish species has been recorded. Some of them are very beautiful such as Asian arowana. 
could enjoy diverse bio-ecosystem of Borneo rain forest as the home of endangered orangutan and hundreds other animals and vegetation. However, each national park is unique. Betung Kerihun has many things for tourists to do many things in the park.
remains. With mountains become part of the park; climb one of the mountains is the next exploration. The special could be Mount Kerihun that stands along equator.
and enjoy.
symplocaceae
while exploring the nature. Several Dayak ethnics, including Dayak Limbai, Ot Danum, Malahui, Kahayan,
, the national park covers 90,000-hectare area with ecosystem diversity including lowland alluvial forest, swamp forest, freshwater swamp forest, mangrove forest, peat forest, and montane forest. Almost every type of vegetation and bird species of Borneo are found in this park. Black orchid
(Coelogyne pandurata) is unique vegetation found in this park when the flowers bloom mostly between February and April. Similar with other national parks in Borneo, orang utan become the highly conserved animal in this park. In 1994, The Gunung Palung Orang Utan Project was established. Then, hundreds of animal species complete the biodiversity.
to luxury demander.
lay eggs in the beach. The islands also have two jellyfish ponds (with the unique stingless jellyfishes) and many caves with connection to the sea.
by yourself.
, flora, and fauna. The first wonder is Lore Lindu National Park in Donggala. This National Park is UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Togean Islands is the next nature wonder. This beautiful archipelago is located in Tomini Gulf. You will mesmerize to the giant coconut crab and Una-Una Volcano Island.
of ancient elephants, or how to create the fabric of the skin, which is very surprising you.
from nearby countries are available. Harbor and port add more entrances. Therefore, people are easily get into North Sulawesi. However, transport by land from Makasar is not recommended.
and of course, sunbathing on the beach with white sand stretching you can enjoy the beauty of the sea on the island and will forget to return to your own country. Maybe you’ve heard there about Bukit Kasih Kanonang. “Hill of love” is located in the district of Minahasa district Kawangkoan North Sulawesi Tourism is a symbol that symbolizes harmony among religious adherents in North Sulawesi as North Sulawesi Tourism. All places of worship religious community there. To reach this place takes about 90 minutes from Manado. “Hill Prayer Tomohon”, besides the hill love Kanonang, North Sulawesi Tourism here also there is a hill offering views of the nature of prayer is so tempting. Anyone in the eye, will not want to blink, Although heartbeat, because seeing the charm of this place. Your eyes will also be captivated by the expanse of natural scenery so green like “Sublimity body of a beautiful girl, unspoiled anyone” in this North Sulawesi Tourism. Because of its beauty, hills tomohon prayer is often used as a prewedding photo. To achieve this North Sulawesi Tourism, it takes no more than 30 minutes drive from Manado as the capital of the province of North Sulawesi