Villagers of Talago pray desolate 'Ied'

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