240501 PR Fieldpractice in Lombok and Bali: Land of the Holy Water Religious Festivals on Lombok and Bali (P1) (2018W)

Once a year, the beautiful Lingsar temple on Lombok comes alive with a multi-religious festival. Both major religious groups, the Muslim-Sasak and the Hindu-Balinese celebrate jointly a centuries old ritual. This unique tradition shows the Indonesian constitutional principle of unity in diversity. The "topart" are rice cakes used for a multi-cultural food fight, which seeks to foster the friendship between Lombok's two main religions.

The Perang Topat festival typifies the strong communal spirit in Lombok. Yet, it it just the culmination of days of ritual preparations. Its roots lie in the harvest festival, which is one of the reasons, why it is held at the Pura Lingsar, famous for both religious groups for its sacred water sources. Water is the key element of success for a good harvest.

These water sources underneath the Lingsar temple are not only important for agriculture on the island, but also constitute important water reservoirs for Lombok's capital. The Perang Topat festival is thus our key point of departure to look at the peaceful traditions of religious tolerance in Indonesia, a prerequisite in such a diverse country composed of well above 17.000 islands. Social stability, peace and tolerance are of course important assets for successful tourism. Indonesia's economy grows by over 5 percent annually and tourism is in certain regions an important factor for this success story. The field practice will therefore also focus on the issues of identity policies, changing religious relations and ecotourism in Lombok and Bali, including the famous religious sites on both islands. One important methodological aspect will be the audio-visual documentation.