On Monday, 13 February 2012, the Seger Beach on Lombok Island filled with thousands of people since the break of dawn, at around 04.00am Central Indonesia Time, as the annual ritual of Bau Nyale took place. The scene was not only dominated by the indigenous Sasak, since local and foreign tourists also took part in the festival.

The crowds were all in search of certain colorful sea worms called Nyale which only appear at these specific times. The worms hide between rocks and do not emerge until dawn to early morning. A number of people already came and set up tents on the beach since the night before, determined to get the most Nyale. 

As dawn broke, and millions of Nyale appeared, thousands of people went into a frenzy as they excitedly collected the colorful sea worms into all kinds of containers. The majority of Lombok people believe that aside from being sacred, the Nyale is also good for the health, while some were seen cooking these immediately after they were caught.

A tourist from Germany said that she was really looking forward to the cultural festival since beforehand she only watched it on Television. ”I am really curious about this tradition in Lombok involving the catching of the colorful sea worms. For me, this is definitely something new” she said, as reported by okezone.com.

As the sun rose, the Nyale gradually disappeared from sight. The thousands of Nyale catchers eventually left the water and headed to the beach. Young and old, male and female were all bursting with joy as they left the Seger Beach.

The Princess Mandalika Parade and Gendang Beleq musical performance

Earlier in the afternoon of Sunday, 12 February 2012, a special parade was held featuring the central character in the Bau Nyale Festival: the beautiful Princess Mandalika.

The parade was held along the coast, from the streets of Kuta Beach to Seger Beach. The parade was a re-enactment of the legend of the beautiful Princess Mandalika who sacrificed herself by plunging into the sea to end the conflict that occurred among the people of Lombok. Acting as Princess Mandalika was a pretty young girl from Central Lombok who was chosen in the Princess Mandalika beauty pageant, held annually. 

Just as they did in ancient time, the princess sat on a throne that was carried by guards and escorted by gallant men.  

The parade attracted so much enthusiasm from the locals and tourists who wanted to watch and take part, that traffic jams became inevitable.

As part of the Bau Nyale Festival, Indonesian prominent Jazz musician Dwiki Dharmawan presented a beautiful concert combining modern musical instruments with Lombok’s own traditional percussion instrument, the Gendang Beleq.

Backed by the composition of Dwiki Dharmawan, two Gendang Beleq percussionist presented their fine performance with decorated faces and wrapped in beautiful songket fabric. That night, they managed to present beautiful harmony which mesmerized the audience, and enlivened the Bau Nyale festival. Dwiki was also accompanied by his long time companion from the Krakatau Band, Upit Sarimanah. The music presented that night was jazz in composition but highlighted with Lombok’s traditional harmonies.

Source:detik.com , okezone.com

Photo Courtesy :detik.com