A Tabuik is the local manifestation of the

Remembrance of Muharram The Mourning of Muharram (also known as Azadari, Remembrance of Muharram or Muharram Observances) is a set of commemoration rituals observed primarily by Shia people. The commemoration falls in Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. ...

among the

Minangkabau Minangkabau may refer to: * Minangkabau culture, culture of the Minangkabau people * Minangkabau Culture Documentation and Information Center * Minangkabau Express, an airport rail link service serving Minangkabau International Airport (''see belo ...

people in the coastal regions of

West Sumatra West Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Barat) is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the west coast of the island of Sumatra and includes the Mentawai Islands off that coast. The province has an area of , with a population of 5,534,472 at the 2020 cen ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, particularly in the city of

Pariaman Pariaman ( Jawi: ), is a coastal city in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Pariaman covers an area of , with a coastline. It had a population of 79,043 at the 2010 Census and 94,224 at the 2020 census. "Pariaman" means "safe area". History According to th ...

History

A "''tabuik''" also refers to the towering funeral

bier A bier is a stand on which a corpse, coffin, or casket containing a corpse is placed to lie in state or to be carried to the grave.''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'' (American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc., New York, ...

s carried around during the remembrance procession, and is similar in form to several of the

indigenous cultures Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

totem A totem (from oj, ᑑᑌᒼ, italics=no or '' doodem'') is a spirit being, sacred object, or symbol that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, lineage, or tribe, such as in the Anishinaabe clan system. While ''the ...

s found in the old world Western cultures. The practice of throwing a tabuik into the sea has taken place every year in Pariaman on the 10th of Muharram since 1831. The practice was introduced to the region by the

Shi'ite Muslim Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mos ...

'' sepoy'' troops from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

who were stationed—and later settled—there during the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

The events

The festival includes reenactments of the

Battle of Karbala The Battle of Karbala ( ar, مَعْرَكَة كَرْبَلَاء) was fought on 10 October 680 (10 Muharram in the year 61 AH of the Islamic calendar) between the army of the second Umayyad Caliph Yazid I and a small army led by Husayn ...

, and the playing of

tassa In Trinidad and Tobago, and other parts of the Caribbean, the term ''tassa'' refers to a drumming ensemble drawn from an amalgamation of various North Indian folk drumming traditions, most importantly dhol-tasha, a style that remains popular today ...

and

dhol Dhol (IPA: ) can refer to any one of a number of similar types of double-headed drum widely used, with regional variations, throughout the Indian subcontinent. Its range of distribution in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan primarily includes nort ...

drums. Although originally a Shi'a festival, nowadays most inhabitants of Pariaman and other southeastern Asia areas hold similar festivals which are even celebrated by non-Muslims.

The remembrance bier

The remembrance is referred to as ''Tabut'' or ''Tabot'' in

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

. (Tabut is the name given in the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

for The Ark of the Covenant.) In preparation for the ceremony, one or more tabuiks are made from

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...

rattan Rattan, also spelled ratan, is the name for roughly 600 species of Old World climbing palms belonging to subfamily Calamoideae. The greatest diversity of rattan palm species and genera are in the closed- canopy old-growth tropical fores ...

, and paper. During the week of Tabuik, activities include kite races, traditional plays, and dance expositions (such as the ''

Tari Piring Piring dance (Minangkabau: ''Piriang''; Jawi: تاري ڤيريڠ) is a traditional Minangkabau plate dance originated from West Sumatra, Indonesia and performed both here and Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. The dance might be performed by a group of ...

''). The memorial draws a large crowd including dignitaries such as the provincial governor. Visitors and celebrants can observe the tabuik in the morning before it is slowly taken to the beach in a procession. At noon the tabuik is thrown into the sea. Afterwards, many people go swimming creating 'memories' of the tabuik to keep.

Gallery

File:Tabuik di Pariaman, Sumatra Barat.jpg, 2018 File:Tabuik Pekanbaru.JPG File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Tabut-feest TMnr 60046750.jpg, 1915 or 1935 File:Budaya dan Tradisi di Sumbar (2).jpg

References

External links