Villagers of Talago pray desolate 'Ied'

As the merry mood of the awaited first day of Idul Fitri celebrations turned almost every corner of this predominantly Muslim country into spots of celebrations, the remote hamlet of Talago at the foot of Mount Singgalang in Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, stood quiet since the villagers were still fasting for one last day.

The situation in the hamlet while others celebrated the first day of Idul Fitri was completely different from that in downtown Bukittinggi where amusement areas, such as zoos, parks and tourism spots were swamped with holidaymakers.

Bukittinggi's main attraction in the Pasar Bawah area, the Clock Tower square, was packed with hundreds of people. Children were playing and running, while older people gathered in groups, chatting and laughing.

The Bukittinggi zoo near the Clock Tower square also saw hundreds of people visiting its animals' cages and stables.

The celebration, however, was yet to reach the village of Talago, located some 31 kilometers from downtown Bukittinggi. Besides beginning the holiday a day late, the village has several other unique ways of rejoicing after Ramadhan.

The hamlet always celebrates Idul Fitri a day later than the other Muslims in the country do.

"The ulemas in the village are of the old and ancient ideology called the Satariyah. They base their fasting period by the location of the moon.

"The modern ones monitor the location with the help of binoculars, so they can see it earlier. The traditional ones only use their bare eyes, so the moon looks as if it appeared late," said Ali Imran, a former villager of Talago who left for Jakarta years ago.

The villagers said that this delay "has lasted forever". Jini, 51, said that she was just following the religious figures in the village.

"Well, we're just the ancient ones. It never matters whether it's late or not as long as we're still doing it," she said.

After conducting Ied (the morning prayer on Idul Fitri day), the villagers usually visit their close neighbors, where children in the family hope to receive the manambang gift of small change.

Later in the day, they will visit friends and family who live farther away.

Visiting family also must eat large meals with the main menu being rendang (meat simmered in spices and coconut milk), which is typical fare in West Sumatra.

"Every family serves rendang as the main menu of Lebaran. We make it so abundantly sometimes that it doesn't run out in a month. And every visiting family must eat large meals," said a villager, who claimed to have once eaten 15 times during an Idul Fitri celebration day.

In Talago, there is no sound of the bedug (large drums usually suspended horizontally at mosques to summon Muslims to prayer) or the glittering of sparklers.

Another special feature of the Idul Fitri celebration in this hamlet was the Jelang Mertua, which is a visit of the daughter-in-laws family to her parent-in-laws house. The visit usually takes time one or two days after Idul Fitri itself and the visitor brings lots of food, specially rendang.

The village of Talago, which is inhabited mostly by the elderly and the very young for most of the year because the adults have migrated to seek work opportunities, is indeed an isolated area.

People have to drive for around two hours from downtown Bukittinggi, followed with a 30 minute uphill ride on a full- speed ojek (motorcycle taxi) and another 30 minutes of climbing uphill and downhill where no vehicles can reach.

The villagers produce their own electricity with turbines they set up themselves because the state power company PLN has not been able to extend service there.

The hamlet shelters some 100 families with each house at a great distance from the others. Most of the homes have no private sanitation other than outhouses. They take baths in the surrounding rivers and obtain water from numerous springs in the vicinity.

Most of the villagers work as farmers -- the village is largely surrounded by rice fields -- and fruit vendors. The adults have mostly migrated to seek a better future. Some go to Batam in Riau province and Medan in North Sumatra, but mostly to Jakarta.

During the Idul Fitri festivities, most of these farmers will stay away from their rice fields for as long as a month.

"The farmers have spent many months working in the fields. The Idul Fitri holiday is a luxury of taking a break and visiting family at the same time that can last for a month," said Ali Imran.

-- Tony Hotland