Enjoying the harmony in Bayan Beleq Village

Lombok is not known just for its beautiful and enchanting beaches and nature, or for Mandalika, a circuit event that is considered successful in organizing the recent Word Superbike (WSBK). Talking about Lombok means also talking about religion and culture. That Lombok is also known as “Pulau Seribu Masjid” is because so many mosques are easily found in every corner of the city and village. In Lombok there are also pockets of cultural communities and indigenous villages.

Among many mosques, there are several ancient mosques that are still standing and used even in limited circles. Some of them have been designated as cultural reserves, such as bayan baleq mosque in Bayan subdistrict, North Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, which is known as the oldest mosque in Lombok. There is also an ancient Rambitan mosque in Pujut Subdistrict, Central Lombok, and Gumantar mosque in Kayangan Subdistrict, North Lombok which is no less charming and magical.

To get to the location of Gumantar mosque, travel time from Zainudiin Abdul Majid international airport to the location of the mosque is about 2.5 hours by driving a four-wheeled vehicle. The Ancient Mosque of Bayan beleq is located not far from Gumantar. The location of the two mosques is not far from the main road of the village so it is not difficult to find it. When I visited North Lombok in 2018, it appeared that some people’s homes were being renovated because they were damaged by the earthquake that destroyed most of the concrete-brick-walled or brick-walled residents’ houses. The walls of Gumantar and Bayan Beleq mosques were made of bamboo webbing or bedek. The roof was also made of bamboo webbing and dry reeds. I saw at the top of the roof of Gumantar mosque there was an iron slab that resembled a chicken carving.

Bayan Beleq Ancient Mosque in West Nusa Tenggara -

Susi Ivvaty

Preserving culture and

religion - Susi Ivvaty Long-lasting - Susi Ivvaty

Daily life and worship activities of the surrounding residents are very closely related to customs. Nearby residents also abide by rules and prohibitions that have lasted decades from generation to generation. The village is bound by awig-awig or provisions that govern the manners of living in the surrounding community. According to the information of the village head Gumantar, the mosque was used at a certain time and should only be used by the beleq village system consisting of:

- Penghulu, which is a social institution responsible for religious rituals

- Pemangku, which is a social institution that is responsible for rituals related to nature, the earth with all its contents.

- Pemekel, which is a social institution that regulates the applied customary law that applies in Beleq Customary

Village

- Raden, the social institution responsible for circumcision

- Turun, social institutions related to administration and responsible for investigating problems related to the application of customary law which is then decided by the pemekel.

Architecture in harmony

with nature - Susi Ivvaty

Customary Village

Beleq Customary Village is not as famous as a tourist village such as Sade tourist village in Central Lombok. Sade Customary Village has been well managed as a tourist spot that maintains Sasak Customs, in addition to also selling souvenirs made by their own residents.

The village of Beleq is surrounded by a fence of live plants. Outside the traditional village fence, there are several houses with modern house buildings. While the buildings in the traditional village are all traditional buildings consisting of wood or bamboo, roofed Straw, and ground-floored. The shape of the door of the house looks unique because it is short in size. It means that when entering a house by ducking is a form of respect for the Creator, and when the occupant comes out by ducking, it means that the occupant must be polite to his guests. For lighting in the house, they still use traditional lighting.

Traditional buildings in traditional villages, when the earthquake occurred, did not suffer damage, in contrast to permanent house buildings that suffered damage when the earthquake occurred in 2018. As stated in the above paragraph, this is related to the construction of house buildings that have a lightweight building structure.

Tourists who want to visit and enter the Beleq Customary Village are allowed to comply with some of the regulations applied, and must wear a cloth that is lent and has been prepared by local guides from local residents. There is no provision of the entrance fee, only make a sincere donation. Regulations that must be obeyed by tourists are installed on the information board in front of the customary village gate. The rules are:

- Having to be accompanied by a tour guide.

- Wearing cloth lent by the managing citizens. There is no entrance ticket counter, only make appropriate donations to local resident guides who are in the entrance area of the customary village. This local guide will accompany tourists who want to look around and explain about the existing social institutions, the shape and function of buildings in the village.

- Being polite

- Not carelessly taking pictures - Not carelessly entering the traditional house

- Not being allowed to bring motor vehicles into customary villages.

There are taboos that cannot be violated -

Susi Ivvaty

Beleq Customary Village is inhabited by people whose main livelihood is gardening. All village life is governed by the five institutions above, such as how to grow crops, or even land processing. The social system also has a service house. In the area of the customary village stands several buildings, including bale-bale, berugak, sambe, and traditional kitchens that each have a different function. There are several rooms that serve as meeting rooms for citizens.

To sit in a beruga building, every citizen must comply with the applicable rules, cannot carelessly sit when there is a meeting of citizens. The seats of women in the building are separate from the men. This building has not changed for a long time and is forbidden to be changed. If there are residents who want to build houses with permanent buildings from the wall, residents are allowed to build outside the fence of the customary village. The times can change from time to time, modernization can change people’s lives, but the citizens of Beleq hereditarily and involuntarily remain obedient to customary rules. They are sure that life will be saved and live the days with dignity (DeYe, Directorate of Cultural

Protection).