WPPh --> ENTER (World Press Photo)

February 2008 | Edition Nine

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A collection of royal servants from Yogyakarta Palace in the city of Yogyakarta – the Sultan’s traditional home - carry "gunungan", a “food mountain” filled with natural resources: vegetables, peanuts, red peppers, eggs and several delicacies from sticky rice. They are taking part in the Sekaten ceremony, held annually to celebrate the birth of the prophet Muhammad. They start on the fifth day of the third month of the Javanese calendar (Mulud) and last a week. The servants (Abdi Dalem) march two abreast carrying two sets of gamelan, an ensemble of Indonesian musical instruments which can include metallophones, xylophones, drum and gongs, bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings and sometimes vocalists, to the Grand Mosque. Yogyanese believe that by celebrating Sekaten, and in particular listening to gamelan, they will be rewarded with good health and prosperity.