Indonesia's annual exodus starts ahead of Aidil Fitri festivities

An aerial photo of a traffic jam at a highway toll booth as Indonesian Muslims go back to their hometown to celebrate Aidil Fitri. - Reuters

JAKARTA: Aditya Nugraha, a 21-year-old Indonesian, was travelling from the capital city of Jakarta to his hometown of Palembang on Sumatra island, over 500km (310 miles) away, to celebrate the Islamic holiday of Aidil Fitri this week.

The festival, also called Lebaran in Indonesia, marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. It falls on Wednesday (April 10) this year and the entire week will be celebrated by more than 220 million people in Indonesia, which has one of the world's largest Muslim populations.