As the legend goes, once upon a time, the people of East Java were just discovering agriculture. They had barely mastered plants, but animals were still hunted rather than domesticated. Without beasts of burden, any task used up too much manpower, and many were impossible to complete. In fact, efficient agriculture as such, was among the latter. And then one day, Dewi Sri, the goddess of fertility, appeared before the wannabe farmers, driving a small herd of buffaloes. These became the first cattle to be kept by the villagers. Nowadays, the goddess is worshiped annually on the first two weekends after 1 Suro (the most sacred date in the Javanese calendar), and the buffaloes, immaterial, divine, come along to take over the bodies of men.

At present, only two villages celebrate Kebo-keboan: Aliyan and Alasmalang, both in the vicinity of Banyuwangi. In Aliyan Village, determining whose the Buffalo man is not determined by traditional leaders, but the ancestral spirits who choose anyone who becomes keboan. While in Alasmalang, villagers who becomes the buffalo man chosen by Alasmalang village indigenous leaders.

The ceremony in Alasmalang village has turned the ceremony into a sort of a tourist show, albeit for domestic visitors – few foreigners have heard of this festival. It is slightly more spectacular, with black make-up and fake horns worn by the participant, but visibly make-believe, and no true spirit possession takes place.

The other village, Aliyan, is where the real thing happens. Early in the morning, about a dozen villagers get possessed by ghosts of ancient buffaloes. Chewing hay and moving like heavy animals, they slowly make their way to the temporary shrine of Dewi Sri, stopping to wallow in mud and to headbutt each other. This consumes most of the morning, as the entranced men do not miss a single rice field along the road without taking a long splash in the mud, and their followers’ attempts to pull them out are helpless against the strength of a buffalo. Eventually, the procession reaches the shrine, and then puja (an offering) to Dewi Sri is conducted by a priest. Finally, a few dukuns (shamans) perform a small magic ritual to exorcise the buffalo men, resulting in a prolonged session of vomiting – with the number of stomachs suddenly reduced from four to one, and the recently possessed villagers can not keep the eaten hay inside.