Grave visiting (Ziyarah) in Indonesia

Pilgrimage sites in the Republic of Indonesia are frequently visited by pilgrims belonging to diverse denominations. In a time when borders between religious groups are hardening in the Republic of Indonesia, this fact indicates an exception to wider trends in the sociology of religion in the country. By exploring the multivocality that emerges in the legitimising narratives about Gunung Kawi (Mount Kawi), a popular destination for spiritual visitors in East Java, and by observing the characteristic practices in which pilgrims engage at the site, Millie and Mayo trace the religious forms and understandings that enable this inter-religious variant of pilgrimage. Their conclusions require understanding of dominant modes of public religion in Indonesia, and how multivocal narrative histories and embodied practice provide exceptions to them.