Bau Nyale Festival in Lombok Island

Bau Nyale Festival


The festival “Bau Nyale” in Sasak language means “menangakap nyale” (catching nyale). Nyale is a kind of worms usually living at the bottom of the sea, such as in the holes of corals. This activity is held every the 20^th of the 10^thmonth of Sasak calendar or five days after the full moon. Usually this event occurs in March. The main program on this festival is catching nyale that only appears once a year in some particular locations in South Beach of LombokIsland. The Nyale will appear in the middle of the night until nearly dawn.
According to the local tale, long time ago along the South Beach, there was Tonjang Beru kingdom led by a king who has a beautiful princess named Princess Mandalika. Her beauty made many princes in Lombok Island charmed. Because of many proposal to her and Princess Mandalika could not choose one of the princes, she decided to plunge into the South Beach and promised that she would be back once a year. Like what she said, she comes back every year, but in the form of nyale. Other tale says that nyale is the transformation of Princess Mandalika`s hair.





Before the main celebration begins, there are many arts and traditional events performed. If you are interested in them, just come at noon. You can build small tents to rest awhile. From these tents, you can watch Betandak (exchanging quatrains), Bejambik (granting souvenir to lovers), and Belancaran (taking a pleasure trip by a boat). Moreover, there will be Princess Mandalika colossal drama performance. 
Many visitors from different area come to Lombok Island just to see the noisy and crowded situation when catching nyale. This festival shows togetherness situation where the people come together to find nyale massively. You are also permitted to participate in finding nyales in this location. If you are lucky enough, you will get many nyale. According to Dr. dr. Soewignyo Soemohardjo`s research, nyale has high protein and they are able to produce a substance which has been proved able to kill germs. The common way to cook nyale amid Lombok society is by wrapping nyale with banana leaves and then burning it. It is commonly called pepes (roasted fish).



Where Bau Nyale Festival Location?

Nyale always appear in the South Beach of Central Lombok which is exactly in 16 points which scatter for tens of kilometers from the East until the West, such as the coast of Kaliantan Beach, Kuta Beach, and Selong Belanak Beach. These beaches are surrounded by hill lines. However, the most crowded beach visited by many tourists is Seger Beach located in Kuta Village, Pujut Sub-district, Central Lombok District, West Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. 


To reach Kuta Village, tourists can use public transportation from Mandalika Terminal (Mataram City) to Praya (the capital of Central Lombok) which is about 30 kilometers. From that location, there is no transportation which go directly to the tour location. Therefore, you can rent a car to get to Kuta Village. To enjoy the beauty of Seger Beach and else while catching nyale, tourists do not have to spend money. Those beaches still become open beaches and have not been made as tour location by local government, except for Kuta Beach.  

If you are interested in this tour, the equipments that you have to provide are flashlight, net, and container for nyale. However, many local people usually provide those equipments.
In the past, this village was quiet enough, but since this festival was loved by the visitors very much, many motels and moderate inns was built around the tour location. Besides, there are also many small stalks and restaurants which offer various kinds of special food from Lombok Island.