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| The day starts with a large gathering at the mosque to pray called Sholat-Eid. Here the family is getting ready to leave for the mosque. They said thousands gathered at the mosque they attended to pray & hear a sermon of sorts that followed. |
Upon returning, the whole family immediately gathered in the large family room to "beg forgiveness" of one another. It is a tradition that's taken very seriously and engages most everyone emotionally. It starts with the oldest member of the family, in this case the grandmother, seated alone and all of her children & their spouses kneel before her, ask forgiveness, and give one another a hug. In asking forgiveness, they use the phrase "Minal Aidin Wal Faidzin, Mohon Maaf Lahir & Batin." The first part loosely translated from Arabic means may you be part of the peope who return to purity and part of the people who are granted glory." The second part is translated "Forgive my physical & emotional (wrongdoings)."
After all of the children have passed, then the grandchildren do the same, starting with the children of the oldest child until the children of the youngest child. After the grandchildren ask forgiveness from their grandmother, then they did the same with their aunts, uncles, and parents, starting with the oldest child from their grandmother until the youngest.
The photo above shows the circle that formed around the room. The photos below give a taste of the emotion involved.
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| Following the time of "begging forgiveness" a bit of a photo session followed with the various families posing with grandma. I felt extremely welcomed and grateful as I was considered one of the family by participating & getting in on the family photos that followed. |
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| Here my friends parents pose in front of a picture of his mother's father, my friend's grandfather, who is now deceased. |
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| Finally it was time to eat that delicious food that had been prepared the day before - longtong with rendang! |
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| Later that afternoon and evening I hit the road with part of the family! |
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| The first stop we made was to visit the parents of one of the aunts from my friends family. This kind of activity is officially known as silahturmai, where family and friends visit one another. The guests should have food, cakes, and drinks ready, which means we kept eating! |
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| We also made a stop at Pizza Hut before getting some durian to finish the evening! Mmmmm... Selamat Idul Fitri! |
