Indonesia is an ancient area of human habitation-where the history of man runs back to its very beginnings. Countless waves of migrants have moved into and across the Archipelago. The ancestors of tribal Tasmanians-Australians, Melanesians and Polynesians all trod the soil of Indonesia. The texture of history is deep here, deeper than almost anywhere else on Earth. Until the 1940’s the cultures of the peoples of the many islands of Indonesia were virtually preserved intact, one of the few parts of the world where native cultures remained so. A diverse range of cultures, from the most simple-to the most highly evolved.

Indonesia--straddling the equator, pulsating with life, is one of the most intriguing places in the world. The most important cult in Indonesia has to do with the ghosts of the dead and the ancestors. The funeral ceremonies are more elaborate than perhaps anywhere else in the world and sacrifices to the departed ghosts who are powerful intermediaries between their living relatives and the gods and spirits must never be neglected. If customs are not preserved, Indonesians fear that their ancestors will be angered and withdraw favours from the living.