VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Baubau is a city on the island of Buton, Southeast Sulawesi. Its strategic location makes the city play a major role in the national shipping lanes and has developed as a center of population activity, especially in the trade and service sectors. Baubau City also has a fairly high marine activity with abundant marine products.

With their main livelihood as fishermen, the people of Baubau City depend on the sea. No wonder, the local community has a variety of traditional rituals related to the sea. One of them is Haroana Andala Ritual or the traditional sea party.

This ritual is a thanksgiving event for the fishing community, Bone-Bone village, Baubau City for the abundance of God's blessings that they get from the sea. In addition, this ritual is also a form of prayer to God to increase the abundance of fishermen when they go to sea.

When the Haroana Andala ritual is held, the fishing community gathers on the edge of the sea. The ritual begins with the reading of prayers and mantras, led by local traditional elders.

After reading the prayer, several youths lift a small raft made of several bamboo sticks with a size of about three meters. Inside the raft there are various kinds of food, including sticky rice, several cigarettes, grilled fish, several kinds of traditional cakes, and two chickens, namely a rooster and a hen.

Then, the raft is placed on two small boats and immediately taken to the middle of the ocean which are followed by the community using fishing boats. After arriving in the middle of the ocean, the people float the two rafts.

After the floating event was over, the people of Bone-bone Village visited the old tomb, which is located in Wara Village, Lakudo District, Central Buton Regency. The old tomb is the tomb of Andi Mamuju, a fisherman from Bone Regency, South Sulawesi. He is known as the first person to teach how to fish to the people of Bone-bone village.

After praying at the grave, the community then returned to their respective homes. This ritual that has been going on for hundreds of years is still being held by the people of the Bone-Bone village to preserve local customs and as a place for cultural tourism.