Sapi Gerumbungan: Traditional Cultural Attraction worth Knowing
The
Sapi Gerumbungan or cow racing is cultural attraction as well a
traditional game of farmers. This cow racing always attracts public
attention of Buleleng and travelers. Indeed, it previously has faded
out, but now the cow racing is virtually always given an opportunity by
the Buleleng government in big events such as the anniversary of the
town of Singaraja, the Lake Buyan Festival, the recent Lovina Festival
and the Sail Indonesia.In the Lovina Festival, for example, the cow racing parade was an event receiving special attention from the public in attendance. When the participants moved and made the attraction, dozens of photographers directed their camera to take a unique picture of the running and tastefully decorated cows.
The effort of the government by providing an opportunity for farmers to hold the cow racing was an appropriate measure to save the agrarian art of Buleleng. Without such preservation, it will only leave in a story within a few years to come. Or people will only know the event through the cow racing statue at the intersection of Banyumala, Singaraja, without the real attraction that can be witnessed by children and grandchildren.
Indeed, only few farmers at some villages in Buleleng are still faithfully preserving the cow racing. They are truly loyal farmers becoming Bali cattle keepers and preserver of the famous cow racing tradition in the past. “The cow racing is very appropriate to preserve this cultural attraction owned by farmers,” said a farmer watching the Lovina Festival. Creation of cow racing is inseparable from the bonds of affection and love between farmers as custodian and cows as cattle. The art was created in the simple agricultural realm, but the date of creation was hard to trace back. At that time, the farmers in Buleleng were possessed by an anxiety while waiting for harvest time.
Amidst the anxiety, farmers said prayers in order to get abundant harvest. When obtaining a good harvest, they promised to decorate their cows having been used to plow paddy fields. The cows were decorated like a dancing human being. The cows were given a headdress, neck ornament and okokan or cow bell, leg bracelets and other items to make them look like a dancer while plowing.
In short, the harvest yields of farmer were abundant. Then, the promise to decorate the cows was carried out. People gathered and the decorated cows were used to plow and they were exhibited at subak area. From such activity, farmers then got new ideas to make the attraction of art. In fact, the other farmers were also interested in decorating their cows while plowing in paddy field.
When all the cows were decorated, an idea came to their mind to do a simple competition in paddy field after harvest. Each farmer competed for a pair of cows along with plowing equipment such as neck binder and soil flattener. The element of competition was not only the decoration on the cow’s body, but also the smartness of the cows to dance. From the activity, people had the term ‘the cow head looked up beautifully and the tail looked like durian sprout’ where the cow tail straightened healthily and curved beautifully.
When competed to run, the steps of the cows were trained to generate melodious and rhythmic sound of music. Then, local people got the terms of tabuh pisan or tabuh ro as could be found in the lelambatan gamelan composition. The cow steps were combined with the sound of cow bell mounted on the neck. As a result, it generated coherent sound like music with simple tones.
In the long run, the cow racing evolved to entire subak areas in Buleleng. Famous villages for this kind of cow racing included the Kaliasem, Pedawa, Munduk and the surrounding villages in Banjar subdistrict or Tegal hamlet in the town of Singaraja. Meanwhile, in Eastern Buleleng there were Bebetin, Jagaraga, Menyali, Sawan, Lemukih, Galungan and other nearby villages. For farmers, the cow racing was then symbolized as a memorial to the Rare Angon, a child figure in the Hindu mythology who is always playing in the paddy fields and villages.
In Buleleng, people believe that Banyumala area located in the western edge of the town of Singaraja was the first area used as the arena of cow racing followed by all farmers of Buleleng. On that account, at the intersection of Banyumala, exactly in front of Banyuasri Terminal, was established a quite large cow racing statue that can draw the attention of passersby.http://www.bali-travelnews.com/Art-and-Cultural
