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The Rawa Wadas cemetery in East Jakarta is showing signs of life. Some tombs are now covered with bright red, yellow and white petals that contrast starkly with the cemetery’s freshly cut green grass.

“Tombs with flowers show that they have been visited,” said Rani, 32, who started peddling flowers at the cemetery on Sunday.

Days prior to the Islamic holy month of Ramadan — which this year begins today — graveyards are starting to teem with people flocking to pray for their loved ones.

Known as Sha’ban in the Javanese calendar, this is when sellers like Rani make a killing. The practice of remembering the dead with flowers and rose water is unique to Java.

Just like basic food supplies, the price of flowers has skyrocketed since the end of July. Before Sha’ban, a bag of flower petals, usually cost Rp 25,000 ($3) but now it sells for as much as Rp 60,000.

These small packages contain a handful of petals of red roses, white jasmine, cananga and pandan leaves. Bottled rose water is also sold.

Maulana, 18, is a flower vendor at the Menteng Pulo cemetery in South Jakarta who sells petals in smaller bags for Rp 5,000.

His family gets their supply fresh from the Rawa Belong market in West Jakarta every morning. While they usually earn Rp 50,000 on regular days, their income has now quadrupled.

“It’s always crowded before Ramadan, when we can earn four times more,” he said.

Sellers like Rani and Maulana save up the money they earn from the uptick in business and use it to travel to their hometowns during Idul Fitri.

And business is brisk. People usually visit the cemetery in groups with family and close friends. Some, like the party of 50 from Bukit Duri, East Jakarta who were in Menteng Pulo on Monday, even rent a bus for the day.

The custom of visiting the cemetery before Ramadan is commonly referred in to Indonesia as ziarah — Arabic for visit.

The custom is said to have its roots in the pilgrimages the family and followers of the Prophet Muhammad made to his tomb.

The Javanese way of observing this custom, known as nyadran, has incorporated local traditions.

Putting flower petals and pouring rose water over the graves, for example, are not in the haditz, which are the Prophet’s teachings as recorded by his followers.

“We are only advised to remember the dead and send them prayers. That’s not specifically done before Ramadan, but every day. So you don’t have to go to cemetery and bring offerings like flowers and rose water,” said Muslimah, a South Sumatra resident who teaches Islam at a primary school.

Muslimah’s family does not observe ziarah like the Javanese. “It’s good if we can spare time to visit the grave and pray there,” she said.

“I believe, however, that it’s more about tending the grave and keeping it clean than scattering flowers or pouring water on it.” Her belief is representative of Islamic purists, who practice the faith separate from local customs.

KRT Andrik Purwasito Poerwodiningrat, a cross-cultural communications professor at the state-run Sebelas Maret University (UNS), explained that nyadran is derived from the Sanskrit word craddha or sraddha, which translates to faith in God, the universe and life after death.

According to Andrik, the word sraddha originated in the Hindu Majapahit kingdom in the 1200s.

“The nyadran ritual is just one of the fruits of syncretism between Islam and Javanese culture, which is heavily influenced by Hinduism and animism. It also explains why there are so many symbols used in the practice of Islam [in Java,] including the use of flowers to pray for the dead,” Andrik said.

“Remember that Islam in Java was brought by merchants from India’s Gujarat region in the 14th century, during which the island was occupied by Hindu kingdoms. The wali songo played a great role in localizing Islamic teachings in a bid to reach out to more followers,” Andrik said, referring to the nine missionaries who spread Islam in Java and who are considered saints.

“The nyadran is a reminder for people of the existence of life after death,” Andrik said, adding that there is a belief that our ancestors are not really departed as their spirits remain alive in another universe.

Andrik said the spirits could still be reached through the prayers of their families. “The prayers link the dead and the living,” he said.

According to KRT Winarsa Kalingga, head of the Surakarta royal museum Radyapustaka, Sha’ban is the period when the door from an alternate universe is open, allowing the dead or their spirits to come and visit their families.

“In the homes of Javanese families, we usually prepare offerings for the arriving spirits on certain days of the month,” he said.

The offerings usually include flower petals in a bowl of water, apem [sweet rice cakes], sticky rice compote wrapped in banana leaf, the deceased’s favorite drinks and a small lantern, which stays lit throughout the night.

“Flowers and offerings are used as symbols,” Winarsa said.

The flowers that are chosen for the offerings have specific meanings. “There are usually five kinds of flowers used for the offerings.

Rose is for love, jasmine is for sanctity, chrysolite means happiness, cananga reflects life experience and the magnolia symbolizes the souls.

“The flowers are representative of symbols and messages. Javanese Muslims who understand them will do whatever it takes to keep the tradition alive. Those who skip it will feel guilty,” he added.

Whatever meaning people choose to find in nyadran, making offerings has now become part of the pre-Ramadan tradition in Java.

Each morning, truckloads of fresh flowers make their way from the slopes of Merbabu in Boyolali, from Bandungan, Ambarawa, in Central Java and from Lembang and Puncak in West Java to flower markets across the island.

For Maimuna, who has been selling flowers in Rawa Wadas since the cemetery opened in 2002, the time prior to Ramadan only means one thing: windfall.

“The roses are for us to see because the petals make the tombs beautiful,” Maimuna said, when asked if she knew the meaning behind the practice.

Rosy days are ahead for the sellers.