Western Lombok

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Western Lombok is where Islam meets Hinduism, on an island dominated by the former.

A large Hindu procession took place on the streets of Mataram, under the light of the full moon. Locals, dressed in white shirts and hats, with colourful sarongs and sashes, walked the long road up to Cakranegara. Drums and xylophones play the traditional ‘gamelan’ music – strangely discordant to the unaccustomed on first hearing.

Our two young Muslim chaperones are stopped and questioned by the police regarding their presence at the Hindu event. This seems ridiculous, as it’s a public street. No matter – they gesture to us, and the police are satisfied.

We chat to locals, including one who, improbably, lived in Norway for eight years, and has two sons there, from a past marriage. There is more than a small trace of sadness as he speaks calmly about his life, the procession and subsequent festival.

It takes place over three days, we being there for the first. The first night is the night of the full moon, but it is only celebrated in this grand way once a year. Whether that’s the Western (365 days) or Balinese (210) year, we’re not sure.

Pura Meru, the largest temple in the area, is our destination. In it, it seems the entire local Hindu population is contained. At the front of the inner courtyard, stand three large meru – multi-tiered shrines – which represent the houses of Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, and also the three sacred mountains.

Tall poles carrying white and red banners high into the night sky. Women light incense. Everyone sits on the floor cross legged, younger members of the congregation text each-other, as a fairly tuneless singing emanates from the crackling PA system.

In unison, at some mysterious prompt, the congregation begins to pray, eyes closed, hands together, with thumbs raised. Then hands are raised, together, above heads, and the devotees sing together in simple harmony. This continues for a while, as we plot our exit. Most eyes are closed. So at least our retreat won’t be seen, as long as we don’t trip over anyone.

Before we have moved, the service ends abruptly. A few young locals have their pictures taken with us. We can only assume we have somehow been deified in the preceding couple of hours. On foot and motorbike, thousands jostle for the exit, and the chance to eat sweetcorn from the mobile stalls outside.

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Photos

Sunset at Pura Batu Balong, Senggigi
With Bali's famous pyramid-like volcano in the background.

Pura Batu Balong, Senggigi
A small cliffside temple, a few minutes walk from our lodgings.