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The most incredible festival that I ever watched in my life until now is Hoyak Tabuik Festival. I am truly amazed with this festival. You can see how rich the culture of Pariamanese during this agenda. “When Did the Last Time You Go to Watch Tabuik?” Well, if I get this question I will say 8 years ago. What a surprise right? I am Pariamanese and live in this beautiful city Pariaman, the place that Hoyak Tabuik Festival be held.
Before I give you the next explanation about why I rarely join to Tabuik Festival, I will tell you some information about this festival. Tabuik is a tradition carried out in Pariaman City, West Sumatra. The Tabuik Festival is held every year on 1-10 Muharram, in the Islamic calendar. The Tabuik tradition is carried out to commemorate the death of Husein bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad SAW, in the Karbala War, on 10 Muharram. There are a lot of procession since day 1 until the peak of the event, 10 Muharram. For Pariamanese, beside to continue the culture and tradition, this festival also gives a spiritual connection to them.
As one of the biggest traditional festival, Tabuik attracts many people come to our city, not only from Indonesia, but also from other countries. It gives a chance to local people in Pariaman to raise some money. They sell food, merchandise, hotel and home stay, and so on. There are also a lot of Pariamanese work during Tabuik Festival as tour guide for people come from outside of West Sumatera. At 10 Muharram, as the final procession of Tabuik Festival, 2 groups of people will bring 2 Tabuiks (The lower part is in the form of a buraq with the body of a winged horse and the head of a human) into the Nan Tonngga Beach. There, both of groups will look like fight each other, every part of the ceremonial has a meaning. After fighting, around 5.30 p.m. they will throw Tabuik into the beach. That is the end of this festival. People will try to take the part of Tabuik for they believe it gives good luck.
Back to the topic of my essay, why did I rarely join in Tabuik Festival? My biggest reason is because it’s really crowded. Very crowded until you cannot move your body, and difficult to breath. I can’t stand with that. Also, I have to pay an expensive ticket for parking my motorcycle. Not only that, we can’t park our motorcycle near to the festival, so we need to do an extra walk to watch this festival. Last but not least, for me I have joint this festival 2 times, and I already known how the festival runs, it is so much interested, but for involving again into this festival, I have to considerate many things, especially the crowded. Haha!
Penulis : Diko Arianto
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