Lais Culture, Unique Facts About Indonesia That Are Rarely Known - Just Menong

Indonesia, the country I love, holds many surprising facts that are endless. Consisting of various tribes and cultures on almost 17,000 islands, of course there are many hidden cultures and traditions that are still firmly maintained or even extinct, eroded by time. And this is what happened to the Lais culture, one of the Sundanese cultures and attractions that is rarely talked about.

Although I have not lost my identity as a Sundanese person with mixed Javanese blood, there are several Sundanese cultures that I never knew about until I lived in another city for dozens of years or when I had the opportunity to work in another area.

Garut

This month I was assigned to a city not far from Bandung. Garut, also known as the city of Dodol. Garut has many culinary specialties, such as dorokdok (skin crackers), burayot (rice flour and brown sugar cake), and goyobod (Garut-style mixed ice). Garut has a center for Garut sheep that has original Indonesian genetics with many advantages recognized worldwide. Garut is also rich in handicrafts such as batik and bamboo tools.

Handycrafts

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Of the many unique things about Garut, there is one thing that amazes me, namely Lais. Told by one of my friends who is a native of Garut, I just found out that West Java has an acrobatic attraction that not everyone knows about, even Sundanese people.

Lais

Lais is an acrobatic attraction that has been recognized as an Intangible Heritage of Humanity (WBTB) of Indonesia in 2016. Lais has been around since 1925 and comes from the name of a coconut tree climber, Laisan, who often displays interesting attractions while picking coconuts. 

Unlike other pickers, Laisan simply hangs from the tree trunk and moves immediately without having to climb again every time he wants to pick coconuts from a different tree. 

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Waiiiit...not everyone knows, right?? This typical Garut attraction is performed by a professional player who plays on a rope connected between two bamboo poles with a height of 12–13 meters and a distance of about 6 meters between them. To be strong and stable, the bamboo used is planted upright in the ground 6 meters deep.

And how do you climb that high bamboo?

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Well, the players are quite skilled at climbing bamboo poles to reach the rope at the top.
Wow...exciting and tense, right? Players can do swinging, walking, lying down, hanging with their feet, or doing other attractions such as splitting coconuts with a machete. There is no safety equipment whatsoever, which certainly makes the audience's hearts beat faster and, at the same time, amazed. 

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Source: https://www.goodnewsfromindonesia.id/2021/11/25/mengenal-lais-seni-akrobatik-tradisional-warisan-budaya-elluhur-garut

Part of the Lais culture, this attraction is accompanied by reog and pencak silat beats. The lais accompaniment usually consists of 4 dogdog holders, a trumpet player, and a player who is tasked with entertaining the audience with his jokes.

Action Skills

Although it looks tense, don't forget, this attraction is only done by professionals who have trained and are experienced. Good balance, agility, and motor coordination are needed to survive and be safe on the rope.

This 45-minute performance is often performed as entertainment for circumcisions, weddings, and others. Unfortunately, because it is still a pandemic, I still can't watch the Lais culture directly because, in order to implement health protocols, crowd activities are prohibited to prevent the transmission of Covid 19.