Tabot fiesta to mark Islamic New Year

JAKARTA (JP): About 100,000 tourists are expected to descend on Bengkulu, the capital of the southern Sumatran province of the same name, for the Tabot Festival from April 27 to May 7.

This unique festival will feature dozens of tabot effigies, grand gold-plated wooden boxes weighing between 200 kg and 1.5 tons each and symbolizing their owners' regal status.

It will also include an effigy of the buraq,, believed by some people a heavenly creature and others a chariot of angels, which carried the Prophet Muhammad to God's presence through the Seven Heavens.

Organized by the Bengkulu provincial tourism office, the annual festival is held to mark Islamic New Year, or the first day of Muharram, which falls on April 28 this year.

In the Javanese calendar, Muharram is called Sura or Suro. Muharram 1, 1419 of the Islamic calendar is Suro 1, 1931, the Javanese New Year. The difference in the calendar system explains the difference in the number of years.

The coming festivities in Bengkulu are expected to attract 7,500 foreign tourists and 90,000 locals. Last year, the event drew more than 7,200 foreigners and some 80,000 locals, according to Maktal P. Wiryokusumo, publisher of the sponsoring tourism magazine Cakrawala Pariwisata.

He said the local government and the people of the city of Bengkulu had contributed some Rp 200 million (US$27,000) for the festivities.

The Tabot festival is held to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, a son of Imam Ali bin Abi Thalib and Fatimah Zahra, who was Prophet Muhammad's daughter. Ali was the fourth caliph and his followers are called Shiite.

Hussain and his tiny army of supporters took up arms against King Yazid of the Umayyad Dynasty and at the battle of Karbala, southwest of Baghdad, the third Shiite imam and his many followers were brutally massacred by the overwhelming forces of Yazid. It took place on the 10th night of Muharram.

Hussain is greatly revered by followers of both the Sunni and Shiite branches of Islam.

The festival in Bengkulu will begin with a soul-picking ritual at Nala and Tapak Padri beaches, in the north of the province, on April 27. This symbolizes the collection of Hussain's head and arms that were cut off in the battle.

This is followed by the "battlefield" visiting ceremony at Tengah Padang and Berkas, south of the city of Bengkulu, with a fight between two warring teams, Dol and Tassa. This is followed by a procession of the turban.

The Tabot Dance Contest follows on April 29, the finger- washing ceremony on May 2, its parade on May 4, the parading of the turban on May 5, and the climax of the festival, the burning of the two primary Bengkulu tabot effigies in the closing ceremony on May 6. The remains will be thrown into the sea the following day.

According to Malay history, a Tabot festival was first held in 1685 by Sheikh Burhanuddin, the chief of Pariaman port in west Sumatra. Burhanuddin, who was a son of the King of Malacca, in present day Malaysia, played an important role in the propagation of Islam in West Sumatra.

Tabot festivities will also take place in other places, including Pariaman, West Sumatra; Pidie, Aceh; Gresik and Banyuwangi, East Java.

In Bengkulu, only two-star hotels are available. "But otherwise, the infrastructure is good," Maktal said.

For tourists wanting to witness the festivities, local airlines Merpati Nusantara and Mandala will fly people from Jakarta to Bengkulu daily.

The former also has flights from Palembang, South Sumatra, to Bengkulu every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

More information about the festival is available from the Bengkulu provincial tourism office (0736 31272) and Cakrawala magazine (021 829-1040). (ylt)