Petik Laut Ritual At Lampon Beach Banyuwangi At 1 Suro

PHOTO IS.

BANYUWANGI - A small boat containing offerings of cow's head, produce, and the sea, was thrown into the sea at Lampon Beach, Pesanggaran Village, Banyuwangi, East Java.

This tradition is part of the Petik Laut ritual at Lampon beach, which is held every 1 Suro or the Islamic New Year of 1 Muharram.

The event was carried out simply by involving residents and local community leaders. This ritual is held as a form of gratitude for the abundance of fisherman's seafood for a year. Also wishing for safety and abundant sustenance this year.

"The people of Lampon are on the beach, the goal is to be safe and get a lot of sustenance", said local community leader, H Suharsono, Tuesday, August 10.

Suharsono said this ritual was inherited from his ancestors which had been carried out since 1927. The ritual was carried out once a year. In addition, to float offerings rituals are carried out safely.

He said, usually Petik Laut Lampon is done lively for 4 full days. The event is usually filled with shadow puppet shows for entertainment.

Now it's done simply and in a limited way due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"In the past, there was a lot of entertainment to bring in artists from the capital city. Now it's very simple", he said.

Suharsono hopes that the COVID-19 pandemic will end soon and people can carry out their normal activities as before.

In fact, this Petik Laut Lampon will be packaged as the Pantai Selatan festival, on August 10-17 and September 9, 2021.

This festival is a combination of 3 Petik Laut events on the south coast, namely Petik Laut Lampon, Petik Laut Rajegwesi, and Petik Laut Pancer.

However, due to the pandemic and PPKM (Restrictions on Community Activities) Level 4, this festival was canceled. Therefore, the core ritual is carried out by the local community with a limited number of people involved.

"It was returned to the local community by performing core rituals and not inviting crowds", said Secretary of the Banyuwangi Culture and Tourism Office, Choliqul Ridha.