Indigenous Indonesians have known fasting since before religions from the Middle East, such as Islam or Christianity, entered the archipelago.
The Javanese people, for example, recognise the 'poso' demands.
This ritual is carried out as a practice of concern, or an act of suppressing lust, for a specific purpose. In the past, there were pasa or fasting aimed at achieving desires, for supernatural powers, success and so on.
Historian and archaeologist from Universitas Negeri Malang, Dwi Cahyono, explains about the ritual of pasa or fasting in Javanese society. He said the pasa or fasting ritual made the new religions that came later, such as Islam, easier to be accepted because the Javanese were familiar with fasting even long before.
