'Horjabius': Reviving cultural identity.

(From The Jakarta Post)

from THE JAKARTA POST -- SUNDAY, JULY 30, 2006 -- PAGE 20 After being banned for years, Horjabius, a traditional celebration among the Batak community of Lake Toba, North Sumatra, has been revived

The cultural event was banned by the Dutch colonial government due to fears that it could give rise to a spirit of rebellion, while Christian missionaries of the time said the event was based on a kind of animism and was thus forbidden

But money does matter. Today, in the name of tourism -- the light of which has begun to fade from Lake Toba -- and of cultural preservation, Horjabius has been restored among the Batak people

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