Our recent visit to Gorontalo on the K-shaped island of Sulawesi coincided with tumbilotohe, the last three days of the fasting month when lights glimmered all over the province from sunset to sunrise.

We are thankful to Djufry Hard who provided most of the photographs for this blog post.

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On the last three days of the fasting month, families in cities and villages in Gorontalo performed the rituals of tumbilotohe, igniting traditional lanterns and keep the lights on all night long.

When evening came, everywhere we traveled in the province we saw thousands of small lanterns, decorating front porches, windowsills, wooden fences, offices, and rice fields. Flickering lights also adorned the streets and sometimes floating on the rivers.

There are many stories surrounding tumbilotohe. Some said the lights are arranged to illuminate the way to the mosques for night prayers. Others said the lights lead to the unfortunates so that we could share what we have. The holy month, some belief, is when giving will be rewarded several folds in different forms. Another view describes tumbilotohe as a ritual to brighten hearts and spirits in welcoming the Eid, a religious holiday at the end of the fasting month.

Indigenous leaders in Gorontalo described the materials for the traditional lanterns that have changed over the last few hundred years. Originally they were twigs or sheaths, tied together and burned to create some lights. As the glow would end before sunrise, people started using longer lasting lights made of resin sap, enveloped with young coconut leaf. Eventually, they started using bamboo, or shellfish filled with coconut oil and a line of cloth to light the fire.

Where for centuries tumbilotohe was celebrated by using what were available in nature, nowadays, for practicality reason, kerosene is used to light the fire with bottles of energy drinks as containers. As kerosene is getting more expensive, some houses began to decorate with colorful electric lights. Most families, however, stick to the traditional lanterns.

Preparations for tumbilotohe begin during the first two weeks of the fasting month, when people voluntarily stock on bamboo, woods, bottles, and clothes or strings to light the fire.

In soccer fields, lanterns spread on the ground. Using simple wooden structures, they are also organized in the shape of mosques, houses, towers, and names of families and business entities. Mostly though they are just modest rows of hundreds of lanterns on wooden sticks to keep the lights on eye level.

Entrances to houses and buildings are decorated with alikusu, gates made of yellow bamboos draped with young coconut leaves. Families dangle bananas and sugar canes as the symbol of prosperity, friendliness, and glory to welcome the Eid.

Tumbilotohe is also a good occasion for organizing a number of cheery competitions such as lighting decoration among villages, photo contest, Islamic music festival, bamboo cannon competition, and other forms of entertainment.

Aside from its religious values, tumbilotohe is a time to get together. Families walk around to see the lights in the neighborhoods; couples stood apart, whispering and pointing to the lights; teens mingle and chat, taking pictures of friends with their cellphones.

On the last tumbilotohe night we saw groups of children playing soccer using a fireball, screaming and running around between poles of lights. Standing near the soccer field, we felt light winds blew to different direction and noticed smokes going up the air along with the smell of kerosene.

There are some concerns that this festive ritual will fade in a few years as people are more interested in the entertainment part of tumbilotohe rather than the spiritual significance.

Seeing the splendor of a million lights and thousands of happy faces, we are certain that tumbilotohe will survive for many more centuries and hope that in celebrating tumbilotohe people will go back to using materials available in nature.

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Images: Djufry Hard & Omar Niode Foundation