Thousands of Buddhists Participate in Apihoma Procession at Borobudur Temple

Thousands of Buddhists from various regions participated in the Apihoma Catur Qibla Borobudur ceremony at the Kenari field of Borobudur Temple, Saturday (28/6/2025). This activity was carried out by the Tantrayana Zhenfozong Kasogatan Indonesian Buddhist Religious Council together with the Tantrayana Satya Buddha Indonesia Buddhist Religious Council. again held the Apihoma Catur Qibla Ceremony at the Great Borobudur Temple on Saturday, June 28, 2025.

The event began with an opening ceremony that presented local arts from the children of the Vajra Giri Putra Cipari Temple, Cilacap, as well as a Vajrapuja dance drama performance from the Prajna Bakti Sunday School, Vajra Bumi Satya Dharma Virya Temple, Lamuk, Temanggung. Next, the ritual session featured the offering of the catur kiblat fire in a combination of Javanese prayers and mantras. The event closed with pradaksina and meditation on the full moon night at the peak of Borobudur Temple.

Director of Buddhist Affairs and Education of the Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs, Nyoman Suriadharma, gave his appreciation and support for the re-implementation of this sacred ceremony in the coming years. He considered this ceremony to be full of noble meanings in life.

"I see three main meanings in this event, first, this is the embodiment of the spirit of the people to always maintain noble traditions as a very good spiritual practice. Second, this is the embodiment of harmony among the people with the cooperation of two large assemblies in this event, and the third meaning is one of the visualizations to erase and eliminate the inner dirt within us, and also develop good hopes for all beings," explained Nyoman.

The Apihoma ceremony was led by ten Dharmacarya and Biksu, and involved 12 Pandita Dharmma Duta and 31 Pandita Lokapalasraya as companions, with participants exceeding 1000 people from all corners of the country and abroad. The majority of participants were Tantrayana people from various regions such as Temanggung, Wonosobo, Banjarnegara, Cilacap, Semarang Regency, Sukoharjo, Solo, Salatiga and Semarang City. Meanwhile, from outside Java came from Makassar, Medan, Palembang, Jambi, Lampung and Bali.

Chairman of Paitia, Yusuf Sumartha, explained that Apihoma this time carries the adinata Bodhisatva Vajrasattva Catur Kiblat which only exists in Indonesia. He added that this ceremony is also a form of preserving Nusantara culture.

"As far as we can remember, Apihoma in the four corners like this is the only one in Indonesia, maybe even in the world. This ceremony is also a form of cultural preservation, where from a Buddhist perspective, Apihoma is a milestone in the revival of Buddhist Tantra in Jawadwipa. From the internal perspective of Zhenfo Zong, this event is one of the largest routine activities of the True Buddha sect in the world," explained Yusuf.

Siti Hartati Murdaya, General Chairperson of the Indonesian Buddhist Representative Council, expressed her gratitude and appreciation for the holding of this ceremony.

"We are very grateful to both the great assemblies of Tantrayana Buddhism and also all the people who are very enthusiastic in participating in this sacred ceremony. Hopefully in the future, this cooperation will continue to be well established," he said.