Paddy Planting Cycle Ceremony (Lombok Island, West Nusa Tengara, Indonesia)

1. The Origin

As an agrarian society, in the light of  90% of the social living is farmers, Lombok island society, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, hung most of their life to agriculture harvests. Because of hunging their life to agriculture harvests, they attempt to treat their agriculture from cultivation, treatment, to a crop period so that there will have no resistance, and the result of that will be overflow. To get more agricultural harvests, they conduct a Paddy Planting Cycle Ceremony (Adat Bonga Padi). By doing the ceremony, they expect their rice cultivation and treatment will get no plant diseas, and in the harvesting time, they will gain satisfied harvests.

Because the existence and availability of paddy are very vital in their life, each Paddy Planting Cycle is celebrated with a mass and a big party. By conducting the ritual, they hope that the agriculture will produce a galore crop.

Lombok island society recognize three ceremonies related to Paddy Planting Cycle, those are:

1. Ngaji Makam Turun Bibit conducted at the planting season. The purpose of this ceremony is that the planted seed will grow better and as a medium of permission to the occult power that control over the field of farm and fruit of paddy itself.
2. Ngaji Makam Tunas Setamba conducted at the fertilizing and diseminating pesticide period. The target of this ceremony is to avoid diseases and grasshoppers. By doing this ritual, they hope the planted paddy can thrive and safe from pest trouble.
3. Ngaji Makam Ngaturang Ulak Kaya performed at the moment of crop. Equally, this ceremony is conducted as form of thank to God for any outcome of its crop. Beside that, this ceremony is performed with the hope that the result of the crop at the next season will be bigger, more and more. Thereby, this ceremony has two dimensions at the same time, those are a dimension of thank god and expectancy.

2. The Equipments and Place of Execution           

A Paddy Planting Cycle Ceremony is performed in Kampu, the place of the ceremony performed by every community member of Kampu (the same level as Kampong), as well as at every citizen`s house. Ceremony at the citizen`s house is performed after performance of the ceremony in Kampu has finished.

The required equipments are, for example:

• Food and side dish (esspecially fish or meet served with the food} for eating event.
• Fruits especially for the pasca-crop ceremony.

The equipments which must be available as a complement of  the execution of Paddy Planting Cycle Ceremony are :

• Equipment for mengosap.
• Equipment for prayer mas.
• Pabuan containing lekesan and sembek (a set of sesajen).
• Incense.

3. The Way of Performing Ceremony

The third part of Paddy Planting Cycle Ceremony involves entire community member (Kampu). It means that all of the community members involve in the execution of the ceremony in providing equipments and fullfiling the expense needed. In this ceremony, there are some rituals following it, they are :

• Mengosap (cleaning a funeral complex of ancestor). This activity is usually conducted at night and led by a Muslim leader. Before entering the funeral complex of ancestor, the muslim leader sits squatly on the trap of the funeral complex`s front door. He reads prayers, afterwards enters the funeral complex and sweeps floor by using a fabric handkerchief. In the place the community put down an earthenware and pabuan containing lekesan and sembek.
• Mas doa (Prayer Mas), collecting late benediction of ancestors and menyembek. Practically it can be said that Mas doa is an activity to take a jar and collect pabuan containing lekesan and sembek which is put down at the time of mengosap. This activity is started when the Muslim leader (chieftain) enters the funeral of ancestor. In this place the chieftain burns incense and prays. Then it is continued by collecting pabuan containing lekesan and sembek.
• Epen Bale and Epen Gubug, accepting late and benediction of ancestors. This activity is marked by spattering water on the head and stroke lekesan and sembek to the community member`s body. This activity is conducted by the chieftain (penghulu).

After a preliminary ritual of the ceremony is done, then the ceremony can be immediately started. If the ceremony is executed in Kampu, the persons celebrating the ceremony are all of the community member of that Kampu.

After executing the Paddy Planting Cycle Ceremony in Kampu, each household also conducts the ceremony individually. Ceremonies conducted individually are :

• Nyelametang Pare conducted at the seedbed of the seed period. The aim of executing ceremony of nyelametang pare is equal to ngaji makam turun bibit and ngaji makam tunas setamba.
• Ngaji Ngrangkep conducted at the crop season. The aim of the conduct is the same as ngaji ngrangkep, precisely Ngaji Makam Ngaturang Ulak Kaya.
• Rowah Sambi conducted when paddy is ready to be kept in a paddy mow (sambi / geleng). Target of the rowah sambi ceremony (lumbung) is that paddys kept by every family in sambi (lumbung) will be enough for daily consumption of all family member and also to perform other ceremonies. Besides that, the sambi also has a function to increase social status; the more sambi some body has, the excelsior his social status is.

4. The Prayers and Mantras

The prayers which read in this ceremony are :

• Short prayer in Arabic Language.
• Supertitous formula/prayer in a vernacular to call ancestors soul (epen bale and epen gubug) (the prayer text and supertitous formula in course of data collecting)

5. The Cultural Values

There are some values which can be taken from the execution of the Paddy Planting Cycle Ceremony, those are: First, a sacred value. A sacred value in Paddy Planting Cycle Ceremony can be seen at the deliverers of the conducted rituals, for example mengosap and mas doa. Further, execution of this ceremony indicates that Lombok island society trust the existence of another being mastering agriculture (paddy). Therefore, in order to get a good result of their agriculture, they have to make a good relation to/link with its master.

Second, an ancestor worship. They believe that ancestors will be able to influence life of the society because the ancestors reside close to The Creator.

Third, moral and social values. Moral value here is the procedure of land processing based on respect to and continuation of the land its self. Expressions that if we do not ask permission before executing the agriculture activities, it will make the invisible keeper of the land (the master of the land) angry, is a warning for us so that we do not exploite the nature as we like. So that a request of paddy will be available ever and a commitment or relation among community member, with its various rights and obligations, keep to be guarded and maintained. (TN/trj/21/10-07).

References :

• Erni Budiwanti, 2000, Islam Sasak, Wetu Telu versus waktu Lima, LKIS, Yogyakarta.
• Wetu Telu, Kearifan Tradisional di Lereng Utara Rinjani, from http://impalaunibraw.or.id/dat/detail.php?id=12_0_1_0_M, retrieved at September 21, 2007.
• YL Frangky, Reaktualisasi Nilai Adat: Merehabilitasi Hutan di Sembalun, from http://www.kpshk.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22&Itemid=42, retrieved at September 21, 2007.

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