The government of Central Lombok Regency, West Nusa Tenggara is making preparations for the implementation of the Sangkap Warige ritual (Discussion) to determine the date for Bau Nyale Festival 2023 which is a tradition of the Sasak tribe.
“Sangkap warige for determining the peak of Bau Nyale will be carried out on January 11, 2023,” said the Head of the Tourism Office Central Lombok Regency, H Lendek Jayadi in Praya.
The sangkap warige determines the peak of Bau Nyale (catching sea worms) in the Seger Beach area, Special Economic Zone The Mandalika (SEZ) and is centered in Ende Tourism Village, Sengkol Village. “We have set the Ende tourist village for implementation of the sangkap warige Bau Nyale festival 2023,” he said.
He said the annual Bau Nyare Summit contains the determination of all political parties, cultural activists, religious leaders, youth leaders, and community leaders.
The attraction of Bau Nyale to be held this year is expected to boost tourist visits and economic growth for the central Lombok people. This activity is packed with various events such as Presean, Princess Mandalika’s election, and other activities.
“We will discuss this series of Bau Nyale activities later, after the Bau Nyale peak is established,” said Jayadi.
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Bau Nyale
To note, when the Bau Nyale tradition arrived, thousands of residents from various regions went directly to the sea to hunt sea worms which are believed to be the incarnations of Princess Mandalika, because they have a clean soul and are willing to sacrifice for the welfare of the community.
So Princess Mandalika promised before plunging into the sea, that she would appear on the 20th of the 10th month of the Sasak calendar and the people who came could catch her in the form of colorful sea worms. The Bau Nyale tradition is held around February for the early nyale and March for the late nyale at Seger Beach, or along the south coast of Central Lombok.
By bringing simple equipment to catch nyale such as nets and buckets, the residents then waited all night at Seger beach while waiting for the right time to catch nyale which is about one hour before dawn.
After the time for the Bau Nyale arrives, while carrying nets and buckets looking for nyale in the rolling waves. The Nyale will later be used as food.
In addition, the leftovers from washing the Nyale were splashed onto the rice fields and the used Nyale wrappers will be baked. Nyale is usually cooked into various dishes. For example, it is cooked into a coconut milk-based dish, made into pepes, or mixed with chili sauce. Sambal Nyale in Lombok is known as Bokosawu Nyale.
Kharisma Event Nusantara 2023
The Tourism Office (Dispar) of Central Lombok Regency, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) stated
The Bau Nyale Festival (catching worms in the sea), which is a tradition of the Sasak Tribe, has been proposed in the Kharisma Event Nusantara (KEN) 2023 as a program of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy of the Republic of Indonesia.
“The 2023 Bau Nyale Festival is included in KEN as a Kemaparekraf program to be curated every year,” said Head of the Central Lombok Regency Tourism Office, H Lendek Jayadi.
Some of the events in 2023 include the Bau Nyale Festival in February-March, then the WSBK event in November-March, Enchantment of Culture Month in the context of Central Lombok Anniversary September -October, and the MotoGP event on the circuit Mandalika in October.
“That is an event that has been planned and will be held in 2023. Not to mention international and national events implemented in NTB,” said Lendek Jayadi.
