Scattered communities of Tenggerese also exist in the Pasuruan, Probolinggo, Malang, and Lumajang Regencies of eastern Java.

[9] Majority of Tenggerese population profess Java Hinduism as their religion,[10] although they have incorporated Buddhist and Animist elements.

[11] Like the Balinese, they worship Ida Sang Hyang Widi Wasa (roughly "Big Almighty Lord") for blessings in addition to other Hindu and Buddhist deities that include the Tri Murti (Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu) and Buddha.

The Poten is a sacred area of ground at Mount Bromo's sand sea and becomes the focus of the annual Kasada Ceremony.

They are believed to possess spiritual knowledge of the gods and the spirits called Ilmu, which they carefully guard from ordinary Tenggers.

On the 14th day of the Kasada, the Tenggerese go to Poten Bromo and ask for blessing from the main deity Hyang Widi Wasa and Mahadeva, the God of the Mountain (Mount Semeru), by offerings rice, fruit, vegetables, flowers, livestock and other local produce.

[citation needed] The origin of this festival is a legend that dates back to the Majapahit kingdom, during the reign of King Brawijaya; the queen of the kingdom gave birth to a daughter named Roro Anteng, who married Jaka Seger, a young man from the Brahmin caste.

[citation needed] For a few years the Tenggerese people flourished under the leadership of Jaka Seger and Roro Anteng, yet the king and queen were unhappy for they had no children.

Deeply moved by the couple's depth faith, the god of Mount Bromo assured them of offspring but with the condition that the youngest child be sacrificed in the crater of the volcano.

In an alternate story, Kesuma was taken and consumed by the fire arising from the crater when he was about to flee from Mount Bromo.