For nature: Women arrange offerings during the Sad Kertih ritual at Melase Beach in West Lombok over the weekend. Participants at the ritual believe it will help maintain natural harmony. JP/Panca Nugraha

Hundreds of Hindus in Lombok Island carried out the solemn Sad Kertih ritual, which seeks blessing for natural balance and harmony.

Ritual observers flocked to Melase Beach, Batulayar district, West Lombok regency, located 2 kilometers from the regency's famous Senggigi Beach and 7 kilometers from the provincial capital Mataram.

"Through the ritual, we pray for the safety of the earth and everything in it," I Gede Renjana, chairman of the West Nusa Tenggara branch of Indonesian Hindu Dharma Association (PHDI), said.

The ritual provided the faithful an opportunity to contemplate a series of disasters including those caused by nature, disease and human conflict, experienced by Indonesia in particular and the whole world in general.

In Hinduism, Renjana said, such disastrous conditions were known as the Roga Sanggara Bumi, in which evil is believed to dominate life on earth. Rituals like Sad Kertih, he said, were held to neutralize this condition.

Held as a cleansing ritual, Sad Kertih is also believed to be able to restore relationships between humans and God, among humans and between humans and nature. "We call it the Trihita Karana," Renjana said.

The observers came from various regions in the island including North Lombok, Mataram City and West Lombok. Each family brought banten (offerings) arranged on a container called lapan and placed them along the beach, forming a line of offerings more than 200 meters long.

"As far as I know, this is the largest ritual ever held in Melase," participant Ni Nengah Sudiari from Gerung, West Lombok, said.

The ritual comprised two sessions: Segara Kertih Ngepik Nangluk Merana, held for the purity of the sea, and Jagad Kertih Bumi Sudha, held for the purity of earth. Both were conducted for the creation of balance in Indonesia.

West Lombok regent Zaini Arony said the ritual was a great time for realizing that humans contributed a great deal in damaging nature.

"Human ignorance and carelessness in maintaining nature have brought about disasters," he said, expressing hope that Hindus in the region would learn a lesson from the ritual to help maintain natural balance in the ecosystem.

The human's horizontal dimension, he added, was plural. People need others to live.

West Lombok is known for its high level of tolerance. Despite being a Muslim-majority region, the regency is also home to many temples where Hindus can freely practice their faith.

Panca Nugraha, The Jakarta Post, West Lombok