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Going
Native - The Lombok Way
 Greetings
and Civilities
Sasak does not have greetings such as "Good
Morning". A Sasak approaching a friend might
ask, in the local language, " How are you?,
How's your family?" simply as a form of
greeting. Locals will frequently ask foreigners
like this in English (it may be their only
English!) as a greeting. Don't get annoyed -
they are just trying to be polite. A smile and a
"hello", or greeting in Indonesian, is a polite
and adequate response.
Castes
Unlike the Muslims in general, the Sasak in
Northern and west Lombok have a caste system.
There are four caste castes, the highest being
Datu for men and Denek Bini for women, the
second Raden for men, and Denda for women, the
third Buling and the fourth Jajar Karang. In
Central and East Lombok, Lalu for men and Lale
for women.
Traditional Culture
Traditional law (adat) is still fundamental to
the way of life on Lombok today, particularly
customs relating to courting and marriage
rituals and circumcision ceremonies. In western
Lombok you can see Balinese ceremonies and
temples with colorful procession and decorative
offerings. Sasak ceremonies are often less
visible, though you may see colorful procession
as well. Ask around and you can probably find
when and where festivals and celebrations are
being held.
 Circumcision
The laws of Islam require that all boys be
circumcised (Nyunatang), and in Indonesia this
usually done somewhere between ages of 6 to 11
years old. Much pomp and circumstance mark this
occasion on Lombok. The boys are carried through
the village streets on painted wooden horses or
lions with tails of palm fronds.
Marriage Rituals
Young couple in Lombok have a choice of three
rituals; the first is an arranged marriage, the
second a union between cousins, and the third
elopement. The first two are uncomplicated: the
parents of the prospective bridal couple meet to
discuss the bride's dowry and sort out any
religious differences. Having handled the
business arrangements, the ceremony called "sorong
serah" is performed.
 The third method is far more complicated and
dramatic. Theoretically a young girl is
forbidden to marry a man of a lower caste, but
this rule can be broken through kidnapping and
eloping. As a result, eloping is still a
widespread practice on Lombok, despite the fact
that in most instances the parents of the couple
know what's afoot.
Originally it was used as a means of eluding
other competitors for the girl's hand or in
order to avoid family friction, but it also
minimized the heavy expenses of a wedding
ceremony. The rules of this ritual are laid down
and must be followed step by step. After the
girl is spirited away by the boy, he required to
report to the Kepala Desa (Chief of the
Village). The Kepala Desa then notifies the
girl's family through the head of their village.
A delegation from the boy's family visits the
girl's parent, and between them they settle on a
price for the bride, a fine (uang adat) which is
distributed among members of the bride's family
in recompense for losing her.
Traditional dowries are worked out according to
the caste differences; the lower his caste and
the higher hers, the more he has to pay. Once
this has been settled the wedding begins.
Generally the bride and the groom dressed in
ceremonial clothes, carried through the
village's street, accompanied with sounds of
traditional music (gamelan) mingle with the
shouts and laughter of the guests as the couple
are swooped up and down and around on their way
to the wedding place. Throughout the whole
ceremony, the bride must look downcast and
unhappy at the prospect of leaving her family.
Travelers without a grasp of Bahasa can get by,
but some knowledge of it enhances an understanding of
the island and could also be valuable an an emergency.
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Explore what Lombok's has to offer...see
as much as you could during your stay in Lombok...
If you plan
to make any special event/s in Lombok, or any travel
assistance in Bali, Lombok and beyond... Contact us
at:
Lombok Network Holidays |
Check out the
Learn Bahasa Indonesia
page to understand most common
used phrases.
Food
In the main Tourist area; Senggigi, Gili Islands
and Kuta Beach Lombok, numbers of Tourist's
Restaurant available serving Western food,
Indonesian and Chinese food. In Mataram and in
some remote area on Lombok, Indonesian food,
Padang food and Chinese food are dominating.
Rumah Makan (eating place) can be found easily
in Mataram, Ampenan and in most main street.
Sasak Food uses white rice as staple, served
with vegetable curries or soup, chicken, beef,
fishes, hot chilli and no pork. In Bahasa
Indonesia, the word Lombok means Chilli paper
and it used liberally in local cooking. The
famous sasak food are:
 Ayam Taliwang, fried or grilled wild young
chicken with chilli sauce is originally from
Taliwang Sumbawa, but it has become a Lombok
speciality.
Sate Ikan Tanjung, one of the tastiest
food on Lombok, originally coming from a village
called Tanjung - Northern Lombok. Pieces of
fresh snapper or tuna mixed with coconut milk,
lemongrass, garlic, chilli paper, spices,
wrapped onto sate stick and grilled. Try them on
your way back from a day tour from waterfall or
gili Islands.
Ares, a dish made from the pith of banana
tree stem, with coconut juice, garlic and
spices.
Pelecing Kangkung, very popular on Lombok
as a daily dishes to eat together with plain
rice. Cooked water convolvulus (kangkung), mixed
with a sauce made with chilli, fish paste (terasi),
tomato salt and lime.
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