Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Christmas commemoration December 25 is usually celebrated with great fanfare. Generally, Christians celebrate Christmas by worshiping in church in the morning.

But not for Christians in several regions of Indonesia. The reason is that there are a number of regions in Indonesia that celebrate Christmas with various activities that are considered unique. Such as holding arts and exchanging food with others.

What are some unique Christmas traditions in Indonesia? Quoted from the official Indonesia Travel website of the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy (Kemenparekraf), here are 7 unique Christmas traditions in Indonesia.

1. Taon Key in North Sulawesi

Kunci Taon is a unique tradition carried out by people in Manado at Christmas. Literally, Taon Key means locking the year.

Christians who live in Manado usually worship in church. Then proceed with a pilgrimage to the graves of relatives.

The uniqueness of this tradition lies in placing decorative lights on graves during pilgrimages. The end of this tradition is usually marked when a parade is held using various unique costumes. This tradition is held for almost a month, to be precise from the beginning of December to the beginning of the first week of January.

2. Marbinda and Marhobas in North Sumatra

The second unique tradition comes from North Sumatra. Their names are Marbinda and Marhobas.

Literally, marbinda is a tradition of slaughtering animals before Christmas. Then marhobas is the continuation, namely cooking the results of the slaughtered animal.

3. Rabo-Rabo in Jakarta

Can be found in Kampung Baru, Cilincing, North Jakarta. The Rabo-Rabo tradition is usually carried out before Christmas.

The meaning of this tradition is taken from Portuguese which means “tail-tailing”. Later, Christians in the area will go around the village singing keroncong songs. Every house you pass will be visited by the Rabo-Rabo team.

Uniquely, the owners of the houses visited must join the group. In the end, the tradition will close with a meal at the last house visited.

However, before doing Rabo-Rabo, Christians there will first go to church to worship. From the church this tradition was carried out.

4. Ngenjot and Penjor in Bali

As Christmas approaches, Christians in Bali generally do Ngenjot and Penjor.

In practice, the Ngenjot tradition is an event for sharing food between residents. And the Penjor tradition is the tradition of installing tall, curved bamboos in front of the house. The installation of Penjor is carried out as a form of gratitude to God.

5. Bamboo Cannon in NTT

The Bamboo Cannon tradition has been carried out since the 1980s. As Christmas approaches, Christians will carry out bamboo cannon fasts.

This atmosphere makes Christians happy. Apart from that, this tradition is also expressed as a form of welcoming the birth of Jesus Christ.

6. Burning stones in Papua

The purpose of this tradition is cooking activities. Uniquely, the stones will be burned at the same time as the food being cooked.

Later, Christians who will celebrate this tradition will first make a big hole. Then the hole was lined with banana leaves and thatch.

In the hole you will put pork. Then cover again with banana leaves.

Well, along with that, hot stones will be inserted. On top of the stones put more vegetables and tubers. Finally, the food is covered with banana leaves, weeds and grilled stones.

For those of you who are curious to see this tradition directly, you can see it directly in Papua after the Christmas mass. This tradition is interpreted as an expression of gratitude to God and maintaining ties of brotherhood.

7. Wayang Wahyu in Java

This last tradition is usually carried out in several churches in Java. As the name suggests, this tradition is an art form that displays wayang stories.

However, what is unique is that the story played is a story based on the Bible. This tradition is one of the oldest Christmas traditions carried out by Christians in Indonesia. The reason is that this tradition has been carried out since the 1960s.

Those are 7 unique Christmas traditions in Indonesia. Have you tried any of these traditions, detikers?

[Gambas:Video CNBC]

(ayh/ayh)