Buffaloes: Central figures in W. Sumatra culture

By Izabel Deuff

KOTA BARU, West Sumatra (JP): Buffaloes can do more than just pull a plow. Apart from this agrarian duty, they also play a role for entertainment freaks. They are the leading stars of the buffalo fight, locally called adu kerbau, which is a deep-rooted custom in this area.

In one of the shows attended by The Jakarta Post recently, the bloody game took place on a soccer field, surrounded by a few warung (food stalls) and rough-and-ready bamboo stands.

Four animals were presented on the field before two of them were led away to wait their turn.

The others looked at each other, ready for a show. Egged on by the crowd pressing them into an ever-smaller circle, they slowly got closer. Once the horns entangled, they began pushing each other slowly and powerfully by using their napes. Still having their horns crossed, they danced a few steps, moving around the whole field. They fought until one of them, exhausted or threatened, flew away, chased by the winner.

At that moment, you had better clear the way for the loser, otherwise you could be trampled, as happens sometimes. Also, make sure that you don't park the car behind the field's fence as the buffalo might jump over.

After the first fight, which lasted only a few minutes, the other two buffaloes were brought in and fought for about 10 minutes. Fights usually last from a few seconds to 20 minutes.

In Kota Baru, about 5 kilometers from Bukittinggi, the people might organize buffalo fighting up to four times a week.

In Bukittinggi, they take place every Saturday and Tuesday, except on special days such as Christmas Day, Independence Day and Islamic holidays, one local said.

It costs just Rp 1,000 to see the fight.

"Each fight usually attracts between 200 and 500 visitors," he said.

The sight would draw ire from animal lovers. Legend relates the buffalo-fighting tradition to the Javanese army, which came to invade Sumatra centuries ago. The Sumatrans proposed a buffalo fight to settle the issue. If they lost, they would surrender to Java. To represent them, they picked a calf and let it starve for 10 days. When the animal met the stronger Javanese buffalo, it swooped on it in attempts to obtain some milk. In doing so, the calf gored its enemy because its horns were covered with iron caps.

In commemoration of this day, the people named their land Minang Kabau (winner buffalo). Even if the name is more likely to come from pinang kabhu, which means original home, referring to the cradle land of the Malays, the story is still deeply rooted in the people's mind and the buffalo has become the symbol of the unity of the province.

This story of facing the enemy with the buffalo trick is known to be a manifestation of a sharp mind. Indeed, Minangkabau is home to a number of famous writers and intellectuals and is known for its high level of education, especially for girls because of the matriarchal system in families.

According to Yanti Amran, director of Yayasan Rusli Amran, a foundation for the preservation of West Sumatran historical values, "Minangkabau people were very well known for two things: buffalo fighting and education,"

Apart from celebrating Minangkabau legend, buffaloes are also considered as the symbol of bravery, which is often depicted as a pair of horns in Minangkabau illustrations and on Minangkabau traditional houses.

Whatever materials the houses are made of (wood or iron sheeting), they always have curved ridges crowned with buffalo- horn shaped finials. Externally, the houses are carved with mainly red and white floral motives, but buffaloes and ducks appear also on the panels.

Being a central figure of Minangkabau culture, buffaloes are everywhere in Western Sumatra and are part of the people's daily life.

Dances

But buffaloes are not the only things to see in West Sumatra. This area is famous for its various dances, performed not only at special family events like weddings, but in hotels, which hire dancers to entertain the guests.

For the past few years, women have also been involved in dances, which were originally performed exclusively by men, and which can still could be viewed in the highlands, like at Maninjau.

For Rp 10,000, visitors can enjoy a series of dances from different districts.

At one performance, a few members of the Alan Manja Group, dressed in plain dark and broad suits, began playing traditional instruments: three tubular double-headed goat-skinned drums known as gendang; tambourines and gongs provided the rhythm and a flute added melody to the charming and bewitching music. Three kinds of flutes, including one made of coconut leaves and one made of a buffalo's horn, were also used during the evening.

Two dancers, both wearing taluak, a batik kerchief shaped in a buffalo horn, sat at opposite corners of the dancing area. They slowly moved closer to each other but without noticing each other. At close intervals, to accompany their piercing cries, their hands clapped on their large pants called galembong.

With their movements appearing nervous-like and as close to the ground as their center of gravity would let them, their entire bodies seemed to be as light as air, reminding the audience of martial arts' movements, especially those of pencak silat.

They looked as if they were vying with each other in striking a pose before going into holds and seemingly fighting.

When music became faster and the dance was nothing but a clinch, it ended with a taji (knife), appearing from nowhere, falling to the ground; they drew apart in a sudden movement, with the loser leaving the stage, followed by the winner -- the scene which reminded one of the buffalo fighting.

A dance-opera called randai was also performed that night but it was not as amazing as the tari piring, where the artists danced with plates balanced on the palms of their hands, or the spectacular last dance which featured barefoot dancers in a trance jumping on broken glass or even rolling in it.

To enjoy such rich culture, you should be ready to spend Rp 1.2 million for a plane ticket for Jakarta-Padang-Jakarta. Or for those with less money but more time, you can take a 24-hour bus trip. And it all comes with lake-and-volcano landscapes of West Sumatra.