Indonesian cemeteries packed with the living ahead of Ramadhan

Muslims in Indonesia, the world's most populous Islamic-majority nation, are set to begin Ramadhan, the ninth and holiest month of the Muslim calendar, on Thursday.

"Before the fasting month, I always come here to visit my late parents to pray for them," Martini explains, standing by their graves at one of the main cemeteries in the congested Indonesian capital Jakarta.

The sprightly woman has travelled more than two hours by public transport on her annual pilgrimage.

Hundreds of similarly tradition-bound Muslims have converged here, making the traffic jams worse than usual, while dozens of shrewd vendors eyeing a spike in sales have set up stalls among the graves.

Some come like Martini to simply say a prayer for their ancestors.

Others ask for their forgiveness, just as they ask their living relatives, friends and colleagues to forgive them any wrongdoings of the past year so they can enter Ramadhan absolved and cleansed.

Priyanto, 36, sits by his father's grave quietly smoking. His mother's grave is a little further away, despite them both dying of cancer within a month of each other three years ago.