The Territory of Ancient Traditions.

Indonesia, the largest Southeast Asian country in terms of territory aswell as population, sprawls across approximately 18,000 islands and hasmore than 260 million inhabitants. At the same time, the ethnic makeupof its residents is extremely diverse, which means the archipelago’sculture encompasses a multitude of regional holidays, traditions, andrituals, most of them of ancient origin. One can confirm this by visitingIndonesia, the land of truly age-old traditions!

For example, during the annual festival in the Baliem Valley of WesternNew Guinea one can witness battle scenes that reenact ancienttribal wars, or the emotional performances by semi-nude dancers incharacteristic Papua clothing. On the island of Nias one can watchyoung men perform the daring ceremonial jumps over a two-meterstone to prove that they have become men. At a wedding ceremony inWest Sumatra one can admire the exotic outfits of the bride and groomof the Minangkabau people, and on the island of Sulawesi one can learnabout ancient funereal rites by exploring the cave burials of the Toraja. In this book I present a collection of photographs that illustrates what Iconsider to be the more interesting traditional rituals, rites, and holidayceremonies that I had the opportunity to witness on the islands of theMalay Archipelago.

Of course, modern Indonesia is an actively developing country withmodern industries and relatively high technological capacities. Butit is encouraging that the government provides significant support topreserving local cultures and ancient traditions. In particular, nearlyevery region of the country holds festivals and various cultural eventsduring which one can become not merely a spectator, but truly aparticipant of colorful ceremonies and unusual rituals. Naturally, all thispromotes the development of tourism, and attracts vast numbers oflocal and foreign travelers.

Happy travels!