At Lombok’s historic Lingsar Temple, both Hindus and Muslims gather to give thanks to God for regional prosperity by staging the lively and combative ritual of Perang Topat, or rice-cake war.
The annual ritual, in which opposing sides hurl rice wrapped in diamond-shaped parcels of coconut leaf at each other, has become a widely-known West Lombok cultural tradition and a popular tourist drawcard.
The Perang Topat series of ceremonies takes place on the full moon of the sixth month of Sasih on the Balinese Hindu calendar and this year falls at the end of November.
The Lingsar Park complex of religious buildings is about nine kilometres from Mataram city in Lingsar village, West Lombok. The unique complex includes a sacred Hindu shrine and a central temple which includes buildings (kemalik) that are sacred to the indigenous Sasak people of Lombok who practice Islam.
The Hindu / Muslim complex was built in 1759 by King Anak Agung Ngurah of the Balinese Kingdom of Karang Asem which then ruled the western part of Lombok island.
Gaduh Temple is at the north of the Lingsar complex, facing west, while the kemalik sites are at the south, also facing west. The buildings feature traditional Balinese architecture.
At the appropriate time on the Balinese Hindu calendar, which also is known as pitu on the Sasak calendar, Lingsar people of both Hindu and Muslim faiths gather to give thanks to God for prosperity and well-being through the year. Lively traditional arts are performed before and after the significant ceremony.
Perang Topat is a core traditional performance of the ceremony and is staged after prayers at the temple and kemalik. The topat, or rice parcels, to be used in the “war” have been prepared previously as offerings by the villagers.
At around 5pm, worshippers gather to conduct an animated display of throwing the topat at each other. After the “war”, the topat is collected and sown back into the rice paddies at night as a symbolic plea for fertile soil and abundant crops.
Other offerings made at this agrarian ritual include representations of rice barns containing glutinous rice, to symbolise social welfare and prosperity, and trays of nine fruits and rice, symbolising fertility and prosperity.
Miniature gardens are made by plugging the flat tops of old coconuts with nine stems of bamboo, measuring up to 30 centimetres, and various fruit, representing fertile earth filled with lush trees and fruit.
Eternal life, in the afterlife, is symbolised by an intricate object involving an implement of Muslim prayer rolled up in a mat of pandanus leaves on which the Koran (Qur’an) is placed inside a closed cover of woven bamboo. The representation also involves an empty bottle, tightly wrapped in white cloth.
The Perang Topat tradition is believed to have taken place since Lingsar temple was built two and a half centuries ago. Today it attracts tourists who are invited by the event organisers and others who find their own way to the lively scene.
Visitors are intent on capturing images of the amazing ritual which for more than 200 years has transcended cultural and religious differences. Some even manage to put down their cameras for long enough to return a volley of topat, thrown at them by locals keen to involve their guests in the activity.
For the people of Lingsar, the rice-cake war portrays unity and harmony between Lombok’s Muslims and Hindus, says one of Lingsar village’s tradition leaders, Suparman Taufik.
It shows how religious tradition and a sense of community can be harnessed to improve welfare and aid development, in this case through tourism.
source:enchanting-lomboksumbawa.com
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