Sacrifice Day

Also known as “Sacrifice Day”, Eid-al-Adha is a Muslim festival commemorating the close call Isaac had with his father Abraham. It’s also a national holiday in most Arabic countries, including Indonesia, so if you’re in Bandung or Jakarta for this time, expect a nice bonus bank holiday. It’s always held on a Friday, but because its part of the Muslim calendar, the precise date varies from year to year.

The sacrifice most Indonesians will (genuinely, it seems) make is either a sheep, worth one person, or a cow, worth seven people. You’ll see the sheep for sale all around the city in the days leading up to the sacrifice. Apparently the sheep must be old enough to have lost its two teeth (although which two I’m not sure), so Pepen’s standard joke is that you should be afraid if someone asks to look at your teeth. I never saw many cows, but there were a few in the backs of trucks, replete with grass to chew on whilst they wait for death. The price of livestock gradually increases throughout the week, up to apparently USD1500 on the Thursday. A large number of farmers grow livestock specifically for this festival. Consider this: There are eight million people in Bandung alone. That’s at the very least 1.1 million cows that need to be sacrificed, and at the most 8 million sheep.

Most Indonesians will travel to see their elders at this time, so naturally the roads will be extra busy, not to mention full of livestock. It’s quite a good time to visit ITB, though, as it’ll be totally devoid of people. A good deal of Indonesians will fast for the three days before the Sacrifice, so be culturally sensitive and understanding. The night before the festival all the mosques seemingly go nuts, as there’ll be singing from the minarets for until the wee hours of the morning. The hotel also played the same holy chant non-stop, which at least made a change from the normal CD. On the Friday all the hotel staff wear lovely batik formal wear as it’s a special occasion (service is as good as ever, which is perhaps a shame).

One thing Indonesians seem to get excited about is ketupat, a traditional dish in South-East Asia served at Eid and comprising of rice steam in little packages made of banana leaves. Typically Javanese women weave the cases (a lot more difficult than it sounds, just check the YouTube videos) from a single split banana leaf. If you want one, they are 6.000 rupiah for 10 (possibly 600 for a single casing). This is pretty cheap considering they take perhaps 5 minutes to weave. They are then half-filled with rice and then steamed over water. Once the casing is removed, which seems such a shame considering how pretty they are, the resulting rice cake is cut into cubes and served with chicken stew, fried onions, sate, spicy sauce, liver and onions and other delicious Indonesian classics. Our driver collaborated with the chef at the training house to create a wonderful meal for us all, which was really special.

I don’t know if it’s actually possible to attend a sacrifice or not, but we couldn’t locate one – they might be small family affairs, after all. Apparently hunks of raw meat are handed round as a token gesture (I’m sure you’re not actually expected to eat them) to those present. But whatever you get up to around Eid-al-Adha, there’s definitely a different atmosphere around at the time, one of festival and general hospitality. Be sure to greet whoever offers you such kindness with a warm Eid Mubarak – have a good Eid!