Bali’s Mount Agung volcano remains on the second highest level for an eruption, but that didn’t stop 253 local residents from hiking up the mountain to pray on Thursday, during the Balinese Hindu holiday of Galungan.
“It was today, this morning,” National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, confirmed to Detik on Thursday.
Galungan, starting on Wednesday, Nov. 1 is a 10-day Balinese Hindu feast holiday, where the triumph of good (dharma) over evil (adharma) is celebrated. The holiday is marked every 210 days on the Balinese Saka calendar and is ended with Kuningan day (Nov. 11, this time around).
The BNPB spokesman posted a number of photos to his Twitter account on Thursday morning of the many Balinese at the crater, who brought offerings and conducted a ceremony.
253 warga dari sekitar desa di Gunung Agung melakukan sembahyang di puncak kawah Gunung Agung. pic.twitter.com/mRd4HHYUCn
— Sutopo Purwo Nugroho (@Sutopo_BNPB) November 2, 2017
Kawah Gunung Agung masih mengeluarkan asap solfara dan bau belerang. Bunyi gemuruh seperti bunyi pesawat terbang keluar dari kawah. pic.twitter.com/XKHT9a6IWk
— Sutopo Purwo Nugroho (@Sutopo_BNPB) November 2, 2017
As Bali’s highest peak, standing at some 3,142 meters, Mount Agung is regarded by the Balinese as sacred.
Prior to Agung’s downgrading on Sunday, Balinese priests had summited the mountain when Agung was at highest alert level to conduct prayers and to show that the volcano wasn’t dangerous on several instances. However, after a French man went up to shoot photos of his own from the crater, the government put up checkpoints at the trails leading up to Agung.
253 warga menuju puncak kawah Gunung Agung untuk melakukan ngaturang pekelm kebo selem. pic.twitter.com/7Wl3XEW3oX
— Sutopo Purwo Nugroho (@Sutopo_BNPB) November 2, 2017
“The status of Mount Agung is ‘standby’ and a radius of six to seven and a half kilometers is prohibited for community activities, but residents still went to the top of the crater to pray,” Sutopo wrote on Twitter.
Mount Agung had been on the highest alert level for an eruption since Sept. 22, with an exclusion zone set of nine to 12 kilometers from the crater, until the volcano’s status was downgraded to level III, standby, on Sunday. The exclusion zone has been reduced, but six villages remain in the updated six to seven and a half kilometer red zone.
Bali governor Made Mangku Pastika said he would give villagers from the red zone permission to return home to pray on Galungan Day. While some took him up on the offer, others have chosen to pass the holiday in evacuation centers.
Likewise, although Bali’s Mother Temple, Pura Besakih, located on the slopes of Agung, remains in the red zone, hundreds of Balinese still went yesterday to pray at the sacred temple.
Indonesian volcanologists have warned that even though the volcano has been downgraded, an eruption is still possible.
Steam, smelling like sulfur could be seen coming out from the crater on Thursday morning, Sutopo tweeted.
“The crater of Mount Agung is still emitting sulfuric fumes, smelling of sulfur, and a rumbling sound like airplanes comes from the crater.”
Status Gunung Agung Siaga dan radius 6-7,5km dilarang untuk aktivitas masyarakat. Namun warga tetap ke puncak kawah untuk berdoa. pic.twitter.com/FBRouu2bg9
— Sutopo Purwo Nugroho (@Sutopo_BNPB) November 2, 2017
