Topat War

This is an event that already passed, held on November 1, 2008, Lombok Island, Indonesia.

War between people of different faiths is not generally something looked forward to with excitement, unless one is a participant in the annual Perang Topat festival in Lingsar village, West Lombok.

Muslim and Hindu villagers annually celebrate the colorful ritual at the Pura Lingsar temple on the 15th day of the seventh month of the Sasak calendar.

This is an event where the farmers and other community members in Pura Lingsar about 10 km from the town of Mataram throw "Ketupat" (steamed rice wrapped in palm leaves) at each other in ceremony in hopes that they will be prosperous. The ceremony is held in the late afternoon. Pujawali ceremony should be held three days before the Ketupat War which fall in December on a full moon. This event is held at Pura Lindsar, West Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.

At first glance, Pura Lingsar resembles most other Hindu temples -- what makes it unique is the presence of Kemaliq shrine inside the complex, a site revered as sacred by the many of the Sasak Muslim community on Lombok.

Pura Lingsar is located in Lingsar village, some nine kilometers east of the West Nusa Tenggara provincial capital of Mataram. In the temple, two structures stand side by side, only separated by a jabe, or courtyard. On one side is the Gaduh temple, a place of worship for the Hindu community, while on the other is the Kemaliq.

According to history, Pura Lingsar was built in 1759 during the reign of Raja Anak Agung Gede Ngurah, a royal descent of the Karang Asem kingdom in Bali, which ruled West Lombok at the time.

The Perang Topat "war" is part of an ancient agrarian ceremony. Before the planting season and after the harvest, the community carries out a series of rituals to express their gratitude to God.

There is a spring (in Lombok) that never dries up called Langser, from which the name Lingsar originated. The people express their gratitude for this blessing from God.

The Sasak community believes that the spring was inherited from Raden Mas Sumilir, their ancestor and also the founder of Kemaliq. To show their gratitude, they place offerings there.

Lingsar residents are not the only people who benefit from the Langser spring -- it flows and irrigates the farms throughout West and Central Lombok, which mean many people participate in the Perang Topat.

At the same time, residents from the Hindu faith living in Lombok perform the Pujawali ritual in conjunction with the temple's anniversary, by holding a series of rites in what is known as the Usaba.

The Perang Topat, or war of ketupat (rice cooked in coconut leaves), marks the peak of this celebration, in which ketupat, prepared by villagers is paraded around the temple complex in a procession involving people from the two faiths.