Karapan sapi ( Madurese: ''Kerrabhân sapè'') is a traditional bull racing festival on the

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

n island of

Madura is an list of islands of Indonesia, Indonesian island off the northeastern coast of Java. The island comprises an area of approximately (administratively including various smaller islands to the east, southeast and north that are administratively ...

. Every year from about July through October, local bulls are yoked to wooden skids and raced for , similar to a

chariot race Chariot racing (, ''harmatodromía''; ) was one of the most popular Ancient Greece, ancient Greek, Roman Empire, Roman, and Byzantine Empire, Byzantine sports. In Greece, chariot racing played an essential role in aristocratic funeral games from ...

. These races are held in several places throughout the season, and a final trophy race held in

Pamekasan Pamekasan ( Madurese: ''Mekkasân'') is a town and district which serves as the administrative center of Pamekasan Regency, East Java Province, Indonesia. It is located on the island of Madura, in an inland location towards the south coast of the ...

. The bulls participating in the event are adorned with gold and other decorations, and the event is sometimes accompanied by

Gamelan Gamelan (; ; , ; ) is the traditional musical ensemble, ensemble music of the Javanese people, Javanese, Sundanese people, Sundanese, and Balinese people, Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussion instrument, per ...

music, food, and wagers on the outcome of the race. A depiction of the festival was featured on the reverse of the 100-rupiah coin for Indonesia from 1991 to 1998. An Indonesian stamp issued in 2009 also depicted the race, along with the Surabaya–Madura Bridge.

Past and Present

There is a very striking difference between the past and present karapan sapi.

Karapan Sapi in the past

1. There is an ubo rampe and a ritual before the implementation to ask for safety accompanied by saronen music 2. Using large-bodied cows 2. Each cow is decorated as lively as possible, Keleles with beautiful wood carvings, pennant flags, to umbrellas 3. Each group of bull races is guarded by a Penjaghe who is in charge of maintaining the safety of the cows in order to avoid cheating from other participants. Usually, Penjaghe are imported from Ponorogo who is a Warok who is famous for being an expert in fighting. The penjaghe from Ponorogo often stands and dances on the karapan sapi kaleles hurdles, which shows that anyone who disturbs the cows he is guarding will deal with him. The choice of a Penjaghe from Ponorogo was not without reason, in addition to reducing the number of frauds, it also avoided retaliation from other participants if the Penjaghe was Madurese himself. It is strongly suspected that Madura's traditional clothes came from the clothes of the prison guards from Ponorogo, because the shirts and belts on Madura's traditional clothes were made in Ponorogo.

Karapan Sapi Now

1. There is no Ubo rampe or ritual, only prayer readings 2. Using small cows 3. Keleles Karapan is minimalist, there is no festive hisan 4. Penjaghe by the Madurese themselves

Gallery

File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Fraai uitgedoste stieren aan start van een wedloop (kerappan) op Oost-Java TMnr 60009862.jpg File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Stierenrennen op het eiland Madoera TMnr 60042361.jpg File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Stierenwedloop (Kerappan) te Sitoebondo op Oost-Java tijdens het bezoek van de Soesoehoenan van Solo TMnr 60009914.jpg

References

External links