Getting to Know the Makepung Tradition in Bali, Visitors Must Try the Excitement of Riding a Buffalo

The winner of this competition is not only determined by who or which pair of buffaloes make it to the finish line the first time, but is also determined by the distance between the participants who are competing. That is, a participant will be considered a winner if he is the foremost when reaching the finish and is able to keep a distance of 10 m from the participants behind him. However, if the buffalo pair behind can narrow the distance with the participant in front of it to less than 10 m (asked), then the buffalo pair behind will come out victorious. Races are completed in a matter of eight to ten minutes in each race.

The unique thing that makes Makepung an exciting and interesting spectacle, is the expression of a jockey who is on a claw and is encouraging his two buffaloes by shouting the yells of their respective regions. The jockey whipped the buffalo with a stick while racing on this 2 m wide track to reach maximum speed.
Some jockeys also use special sticks which have small nails attached to the sticks, so it is not surprising that the buffalo they use bleed after participating in this competition.

What made Makepung even more exciting was that in every race there was almost always a jockey who failed to control his buffalo. This often happens when a participant overtakes another participant and when the buffalo goes out of control, it will go off the track and end up mired in a paddy field or overturned. The audience cheered.
The unique and lively cultural heritage tradition in Jembrana Regency, Bali Province, has been preserved until to this time.

Related posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *