Source: www.indonesia.travel
The Sasak are an essential tribe that inhabits the island of Lombok. About 80 percent of the people in Lombok are the Sasak tribe, followed by other tribes such as the Mbojo, Dompu, Samawa, Javanese and Balinese. Sade Village, Central Lombok is one of the settlements where the civilization of the Sasak tribe is still well preserved. Usually, here the men work as farmers. For girls generally, they work as conventional weavers.
They generally place their woven cloth in front of the dwelling. Display them along with other crafts they make. Another uniqueness is that the building floor layer combines clay, replicas, and buffalo dung. They believe that the combination is much stronger than cement. Besides, they have their own doctrine on that matter. They believe that dirt is the place where individuals come from. Compost describes most of the Sasak people who work as farmers and rely on buffalo to maintain their property.
The Sasak people maintain this culture. Apart from this Sasak heritage in Lombok, many cultural activities are very common. Collective cultures that have operated for hundreds of years create the production of those cultural pursuits.
- Gandrung Tari
This is a traditional dance that is often performed in formal and informal events in Lombok. In the past, they often performed this dance at night after the rice harvest. One of the attributes of Gandrung is Gegelung. This soldier’s headdress is decorated with frangipani flowers.
- Gendang Beleq
It is called Gendang Beleq, because one of the instruments is a kind of large drum. The title contains two phrases, Gendang and Beleq. The term Gendang means “drum”, and Beleq means “big”. In its function, this orchestra includes two Gendang beleq, namely Gendang mama (Male Drum) and also Gendang nina (Women’s Drum). Both present dynamics across their functions. This conventional song instrument is performed in groups, followed by additional instruments.
- Bau Nyale
Bau Nyale is a mystical and sacred event for the Sasak people. Once upon a time, this convention was launched from the story of a beautiful princess named Putri Mandalika. Her beauty amazed the men from all over the village and made them want to compete to win her to be their wife. Nonetheless, it would become complicated for her when she rejected them, she thought then it would start a war. This was a significant problem for her. Hence, the princess chooses a strange choice, which is suicide. To be precise, she dragged herself into the sea.
After committing suicide, even many nyale (sea creatures) were seen in the sea. Until now, the visual appeal of nyale is considered the embodiment of all Princess Mandalika. The term ‘Bau Nyale’ comes from the Sasak language. Where Bau means “to grab” and nyale means “sea worm”. So, as the title suggests, this could be a worm-catching act on the beach.
- Presean
If you Google the term “presean,” you will find many fabulous photos of two people fighting with sticks and protecting. This type of martial art is very popular and gets a lot of attention. In the past, Presean was usually set up as a way of summoning rain, but it is now a conventional game set in the type of contest held in the countryside.
This martial art uses Penjalin (Stick) made of rattan as a weapon and Ende (protector) made of cowhide. The player is known as Pepadu, in which usually there are two teenagers/adults who fight and show-off their martial art skills.
Before you plan a trip to Lombok, be sure to read more about Lombok and Indonesia by visiting Wonderful Indonesia.