Mekotekan Tradition

The Mekotek or Ngerebeg ceremony is held on Saturday Kliwon Kuningan or on exactly the same day with Kuningan day celebration, which is hel every 210 days. The term “mekotekan” came from the parade and the war-like-play, using a stick which is hit or beaten to the other stick and produces the sound “tek..tek..tek…”

This makotekan tradition has 3 meanings. The first meaning is a tribute to the hero, the second as a form of rejecting the reinforcements or giving salvation and fertility to the peasants’ land in Mengwi and also as a way of casting out evil spirits that will enter the village or Mengwi society, and the last meaning is as a unifying form for young people. Because by implementing the tradition of Mekotek they believe that young people are expected to keep away from negative things like using drugs and so on.

In the past, this celebration used an iron, which can gives the spirit to the battlefield or from the battlefield. However, because many participants were injured by used the iron spear,then the iron spear was replaced with a wooden pulette stick that had been peeled and measured about 2-3.5 meters in length.

This Mekotek starts at 02:00 Wita begins by pray together at Pura. After that the community walk together while doing Mekotek or war together by using Pulet wood which is the original wood of Bali known as strong wood. And this tradition accompanied by gamelan (a traditional music) to encourage the participants. This Mekotek or ngerebek ceremony is followed by 12 Banjar Adat in Desa Adat Mungguh.

The ceremony was followed by teenage boys and fathers by wearing light custom clothing. Participants were divided into groups of which each group consisted of 50 peoples. The wooden sticks that are carried pitted over in the air and make a pyramid and then in circles until they are parted again. even, if the wooden stick separated some participants and hit them but did not make they feel annoyed or angry.

And for every participants who hit by must be willing to climb onto the wooden pile, because this ritual has become a habit then if there are participants who fell or hit the participants should not be angry.