Craft Villages get a Spot on the Tourist Map

  TOUR packages are being developed to take visitors to two Lombok handicraft villages newly designated as tourism attractions.

In Mas Mas village in Central Lombok and in the Batusela community of West Lombok’s Sesela village, traditional artisans are honing their skills in expectation of rising visitor numbers.

Mas Mas craftsmen produce ketak products, such as table mats and containers, from a tightly woven grass which grows naturally in nearby forests.

Batusela artisans are masters at producing cukli goods such as masks, chests and frames, all from carved timber ornately inlaid with designs made from shell.

Both ranges of products are popular with visitors to Lombok and are readily identifiable as traditional crafts of the eastern Indonesian island which is gaining an international reputation as an emerging tourist destination.

Lombok is part of the province of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) which has been identified, along with neighbouring Bali and East Nusa Tenggara, as a corridor for tourism development in the MP3EI national masterplan to accelerate growth.

In response, NTB tourism groups have actively sought to identify additional NTB attractions to include in tourism packages.

A workshop attended by the province’s Regional Leadership Council (DPD), Indonesian Guides Association (HPI) and Indonesian Tours and Travel Association (ASITA) initially identified Port Tawun and Pekemit village, both in West Lombok, as well as Mas Mas and Batusela as potential attractions.

NTB’s HPI deputy chairman Ahmad Hairi said once the shortlist was narrowed to only Mas Mas and Batusela, workshop delegates visited the two communities to determine their potential.

Most people in Batusela, in the Gunungsari district, are skilled carpenters who have extended their craft of woodcarving into the art of cukli, said Ahmad. The village therefore is already attracting some visitors and villagers have adapted to accommodate them.

Through the West Lombok administration, an art market is being built in Batusela especially to accommodate tourists wanting to explore and buy cukli products.

A dedicated package tour would now be devised to take tourist to Batusela by traditional cidomo (pony cart) transport, said Ahmad. Drivers of the ornately decorated carts and ponies would be equipped with knowledge relevant to tourists.

“Tourists will be taken to see the wood carving and cukli processes in the village and may even have a turn at carving if they wish.”

The old village has the added attraction of being the home of relics from the days of the Kingdom of Lombok. They include a mosque, believed to be a gift from Balinese King of Lombok Anak Agung Gede Karang Asem, which is still used by Batusela villagers.

“In the mosque area is a spring that flows all the time, even when Lombok is suffering a prolonged drought,” said Ahmad. “Today people still bathe here and take the water for everyday use.”

The excursion to Mas Mas village, in Batukliang district, was led by HPI Central Lombok chairman Karyadi, who said the village was equal to other Lombok tourist destinations.

Set in the foothills of Mount Rinjani, the cool village offers scenic views of verdant rice paddies against a background of the majestic peak and virgin tropical forests.

Most Mas Mas villagers are farmers and some of them, as a sideline, take the special grass from the mountain forests to create the internationally-popular ketak products.

“Tourists who come here get to see the process of making ketak products and also enjoy watching the villagers at work,” said Karyadi. “They often join workers in the fields for refreshments.

“Not far from Mas-Mas, visitors will find many beautiful natural attractions including the Benang Setokel and Benang Kelambu waterfalls and Aik Bukaq nature park.”

source:http://www.enchanting-lomboksumbawa.com

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Memutah harnesses Purity and Eternity

     The Memutah tradition of Lombok’s indigenous Sasak people, which involves a ceremonial procession and rituals to engender an abundant harvest of rice, is full of messages and meaning that impart local cultural wisdom.

Although this important rice ritual is almost extinct, it is still conducted in some rural communities including the Tanjung district of North Lombok.

On the day appointed for the first harvest of rice, the Memutah procession creates a magical atmosphere as the paddy owners (risata) and young local men make their way to the rice fields.

Six little girls, wearing the traditional Lombok-style Kebaya and carrying drinking water containers named ceret, appear and line up neatly behind the owners.

Before the rice is harvested, the owners of the fields must wash to purify themselves. Then one little girl will present to the owners a rombong, a rice container made from woven bamboo.

Within the rombong are duplicates of traditional rice-cutting tools formerly used by Sasak farmers.

The paddy owners must hold the rombong as if they are holding a baby. This signifies the paddy caring for and nurturing the rice.

After cleansing themselves in the manner of Muslims before prayer, the owners proceed towards the fields with traditional ceremonial swords, name kris, sheathed at their waistbands.

In this procession named Mengacep, the owners must not speak and they may not be addressed by anyone they encounter along the way. Instead, the farmers must concentrate and silently pray for an abundant harvest.

Ritual dictates that the first rice stalks to be harvested should be at the main point of entry of water into the rice fields. It was at this place that the first five rows of rice, named Mother of Rice (Inan Pare) and Father of Rice (Aman Pare), were planted.

Before harvesting the Mother of Rice and the Father of Rice, the owners sing a prayer in the ancient Javanese language of Bahasa Kawi. The rice is then cut with the traditional Sasak tools.

About 15 Mother of Rice stalks are cut and tied with a white thread to symbolise purity. About 15 Father of Rice stalks are cut and tied with a black thread to symbolise eternity.

The two tied parcels are placed in a rombong for storage in the rice barn. Before storage, the Mother of Rice and the Father of Rice usually are hung in the field in a berugak – a traditional Lombok open-sided structure with a thatch roof.

According to Datu Artadi, a community leader who has in the past led Tanjung Memutah processions, not one grain should be allowed to fall from the parcels of the Mother and Father of Rice.

“Even if one grain is dropped, then it must be collected to show respect for the newly-harvested rice,” he said, adding that the Mother of Rice and the Father of Rice may not be eaten either.

source:http://www.enchanting-lomboksumbawa.com

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Brave Little Jockeys Born to Ride Rough

To Witness the dexterity and bravery of Lombok’s little jockeys, mostly aged only five and six years, head to Praya in Central Lombok on any Sunday.

These tenacious little bareback horsemen take to the race track without the protection of helmets or boots to wave the Lombok flag in the face of the better known child jockey traditions of Sumbawa island and Sumba island in the neighbouring province of East Nusa Tenggara.

The action peaks at Praya’s old field (lapangan tua) between around 10am and noon when hundreds of people come to a standstill as the little jockeys arrive with their mounts.

The Sunday event is a horse lover’s picnic with owners showing and racing their favourite horses and displaying a good selection of the small horses used to pull cidomos – the colourful traditional pony carts used on Lombok as taxis.

One recent Sunday, about 20 horses were presented for participation in two main categories of events. In the senior class, the determined little jockeys test their dexterity and the speed of their older horses on a two-kilometre track.

The junior class is a horse-only training session at which small horses without jockeys are expected to follow the lead set by one or two more mature horses.

But it’s a serious competitive event. Horseshoes are diligently checked and among the hundreds who line up for the spectacle are diehards who place bets on their favourites.

Praya’s little jockeys have often had a year or two to practice their bareback riding skills before they ride competitively at age 5 or 6.

On Sundays, their day off from school, they hit the track with enthusiasm. They have no compunction about spurring their horses on towards a win and a blasé acceptance that their hobby may bring injuries.

Five-year- old Martin, born in Praya, emerges from a training session with his face covered in mud and his horsewhip welded to his right hand.

Introduced to horse-riding by his father at age 4, Martin participates in every amateur jockey event and competes against little jockeys from West Lombok, North Lombok and Sumbawa as well as his home regency of Central Lombok.

Martin exudes confidence before any race. On the track, the crowd erupts in cheers as his agile little fingers dance along the reins to manoeuvre his horse.

The capital of Central Lombok regency, Praya was once the home of important royals in the society of Lombok’s indigenous Sasak people. Sasak kings are known to have kept horses.

Throughout Lombok, ornately decorated small horses are still used to pull carts to provide traditional cidomo taxi transport for many residents and often for tourists too.

Even today, most Lombok communities keep a horse. Prices for horses vary widely from Rp8 million to Rp100 million, depending on the animal’s performance on the racetrack.

People are fond of naming their horses according to their dexterity and other attributes.

One local horse hero is not a local, however. Skardio is a 2.164m-high white stallion bought about eight years ago in Jakarta by Iwan, 30, of Sobirin in Praya.

Foaled on 10 October 2004, to sire Hanoman II and dam Mustika Dupont, Skardio has won tournaments in Praya and Sumbawa. He was a major attraction at an equestrian event in association with southern Lombok’s Bau Nyale festival.

Well known in Praya and beyond, Skardio’s speedy performances on the track have attracted offers of millions of rupiah from would-be owners.

If you are on Lombok on a Sunday, don’t miss the excitement and wonder of Praya’s tenacious little jockeys and other displays of traditional horsemanship.

source:http://www.enchanting-lomboksumbawa.com

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