Christmas in Indonesia

Christmas in Indonesia (locally known as Natal, from the Portuguese word for Christmas), which has approximately 25 million Christians (of which about 30% are Roman Catholics), is celebrated with various traditions throughout the country. In the regions with a majority of Christians (Protestants and Catholics), there are Christmas celebrations with ceremonies and local food. In big cities, the shopping centres are mostly decorated with plastic Christmas trees and Sinterklas (derived from the Dutch word Sinterklaas). Most local television channels broadcast Christmas musical concerts and the annual, national Christmas celebration which is organised by the government. In addition to traditional foods, generally every Christmas Day is filled with cookies, like nastar (pineapple tart), kastengel (from Dutch word kaasstengel), or 'putri salju'.

In the Papua region, after the Christmas mass, a Barapen (grilling stone) will be held, which is a ritual cooking of pork for the feast. The pork meat will be cooked in-between hot stones which are heated using wood. Instead of using matches, Papuan people will scrape the wood continuously to produce heat to set it on fire. In order to prepare the Barapen, the Papuan men will dig a hole to put the hot stones in. At the same time, Papuan women will prepare the vegetables, such as sweet potato, water spinach, fern, cassava, spinach, and papaya. At first, the hot stones are stacked on the base of the hole. Then, the pork and vegetables will be put into the hole, and covered with another layer of hot stones. The three stacks of this arrangement will cook the pork in the hole for half a day. The tradition of Barapen is an expression of gratitude, togetherness, sharing, and love which is characterised by eating pork together.

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