TThe legend of Mount Bromo traces back to the fifteenth century, when the princess of the East Javanese

e empire of Majapahit, Roro Anteng, and her husband, Joko Seger, cam e to the Bromo region. They named the region Tengger a co mbination of their last names (Anteng and Seger). Their reg ion prospered, but the ruling couple found themselves unab le to conceive. They prayed to the gods from Mount Bromo s edge. The gods agreed to give them children on the condi tion that they throw into the crater the last child born as a sacrifice. Soon they gave birth to their first child, and wer e blessed with many more. When the twenty-fifth child, Kesuma, was born, Roro learne d that this would be their last and would have to be sacrific ed. She refused. This angered the gods, and they threatene d to spew volcanic fire over the land. In order to protect th eir kingdom, the couple followed through on their promise. It is said that the child s voice was heard shortly after, ord ering the Tengger people, and all their descendants, to per form an annual ceremony to commemorate the event and ap pease the still angry gods. To this day, the community comes together annually for the Kasodo Ceremony, which is held in a temple at the foot of t he mountain. On the fourteenth day of the ceremony they tr avel up the mountain. Crowds gather on Bromo s sand sea a t midnight. They bring their offerings for the gods to throw into the crater. The ceremony is a spectacle of villagers wa lking around the edge with offerings of fruit baskets on thei r heads, or cages containing small animals, each decorated with flowers. Mount Bromo holds a unique magic. It is a place where leg end is kept alive, still whispering from the rumbling depths of the earth itself.