Paintings Indonesia - Gallery

In 1981 the government of Indonesia, presumably motivated by high moral principles, decreed that all forms of gambling, including cockfighting, would henceforth be illegal. The results of this law have been about the same as anywhere else in the world where popular, relatively innocuous, and slightly immoral activities have been prohibited. The practice has merely moved away from prying eyes so that it is less obvious but still very real. So popular has cockfighting been in Bali for so many decades, that it is about as realistic to tell a Balinese man that he cannot participate in his favorite sport as it is to tell the sun not to rise.

Concealing cockfights from the law isn't all that difficult. It is illegal to possess drugs, or firearms, but not chickens, and I have never heard of anyone being arrested for carrying a fighting cock down the street. So, the animals don't have to be concealed - just what they do to each other. And there are more than enough of out-of-the-way places in Bali to insure that this tradition is perpetuated.

Every now and then the cops come and break up a cockfight. But, usually they have better things to do, and they know full well that, as soon as they go away, it will be business as usual. So, the law doesn't take this matter very seriously. A local policeman who tries to keep his friends neighbors from cockfighting is not likely to be on the scene very long.

The main result of declaring cockfighting to be illegal is that the material aspects must be portable, in case of a sudden raid. That requires dispensing with some of the equipment that was traditional, such as round timers. It also means that villagers can't use the big, roofed arenas called wantilan that were built years ago for cockfights. But, that is no serious hindrance. In my area there is a cockfight every day. It isn't in the village, of course, but not very far away, either. nor is it advertised, but word gets around quickly, and all I have to do to find it is ask one of my several gambling neighbors who wouldn't dream of being absent.

There, just off a rutted dirt road or single track trail, perhaps behind a living fence, one will find several dozen dusty motorbikes parked somewhat out of sight under some scrub trees. And not far away is where the action is.

Why is cockfighting so popular? For one thing it is the slot machine or the bingo game of the third world. A fair percentage of the world's population seems to be addicted to gambling. In the West, this may require some fairly sophisticated equipment, some odds-making center, complex communications equipment, and an assurance than an unseen and perhaps unknown person will pay up if you win. Not so with cockfighting. One doesn't even need to own a cock. He can just show up and gamble to his heart's content - limited only by his pocket book, since all bets are in cash.

For another thing, cockfighting is exciting. Unlike the monotonous whir of the slots, there is literally blood and guts here - like the Romans throwing the Christians to the lions. There are crowds that jostle and shout. There is lots of frenzied action. Even if you don't bet, the scene may be worth the effort of getting there. Although this is almost exclusively a man's sport, there are always ladies who show up to sell snacks to the spectators, and frequently there is a necessarily portable card or dice game on the ground nearby.

Pulling slot machine handles or filling out bingo cards all day long is a rather anti-social existence. Cockfighting is quite the opposite. It is a chance to see one's friends, gossip, meet newcomers, and just pass the time of day. It is also the chance to make or lose a lot of money. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that the government banned it - the fact that those who bet and lost were among those who could least afford to do so. I have heard a hundred stories about locals who literally bet the farm on their favorite cocks and lost everything.

However, really big-time multi-million rupiah, professional cockfighting that used to be a daily event in the large public arenas in Denpasar and elsewhere in Bali has pretty well disappeared. The local, village cockfights may involve hundreds of thousands of rupiah, but seldom reach the point where a loss means a change in life style of the gamblers. Ordinary people may bet a few thousand here and there, but this is not really big-time, serious, dog-eat-dog betting in most cases.

Religious Aspects

Cockfights have one other aspect, the religious, that is not well-appreciated by visitors to Bali. One important characteristic of the Balinese Hindu religion is the making of offerings. This is a complex subject that requires here a broad, sweeping generalization. One important function of offerings is as a means of communications between man and the gods. Higher deities are given offerings that emphasize the beautiful and tasteful side of life - flowers, fruits, leaves, and the like, usually placed in containers of young coconut leaf that are cut to various degrees of intricacy. These offerings are normally placed in elevated shrines or niches, befitting the belief that these deities have physical as well as spiritual elevation.

No less important is a class of spirits that are impish, lustful, impetuous, greedy, unpredictable, and capable of causing harm to those who interfere with them. These lower spirits that live on or near the ground have a variety of names and characteristics. In my village they are called butakala. It is wrong to think of them as being evil spirits. As with all spirits they are ambivalent; their behavior toward man is a function of how they are treated. They are just as capable of helping and protecting their human neighbors as they are of causing sickness, accidents, or the loss of a prized possession. If they are treated with respect, according to well known principles, they can be kept under control, and, indeed, they can be depended upon for protection.

Butakala are more animal-like than the higher spirits and require considerable amounts of food in the form of offerings. Ceremonies that are principally directed toward butakala always require an animal sacrifice, which may range from a small chick to a water buffalo, depending upon the size and importance of the occasion. One of the most important requirements of butakala is a blood sacrifice that must be poured upon the ground.

This is where cockfights come in. Whenever there is an important Balinese Hindu ceremony, there should be a blood sacrifice made to the local butakala to win their cooperation and support. Such a ceremony might range from a rite of passage, to the anniversary celebration of a temple or shrine, to the purification of an area that is known to be adversely affected by butakala. At such a time a cockfight is legal, and, in fact, a requirement. The local cockfighters come in from the cold, so to speak, and do their thing right out in public - perhaps even inside a public temple. The losing cock contributes his blood to the butakala, and all is well.

Theoretically only three rounds of such a religious cockfight are legally permitted. But, things being as they are, the normal procedure is to retire to the local wantilan and continue, sometimes all day long. The police won't bother such an event since it is held under the guise of religion.

The Fight

When the referee feels that betting has gone far enough, he indicates that the match should begin. The crowd suddenly becomes quiet after a few last-minute bets are quickly placed. The referee and the judges, any, squat down in the corners of the arena, and the handlers release their charges from opposite sides of the arena, at a distance. Anything can happen.

Usually the birds fluff their ruffs, extend their necks, and, after a preliminary glare, have at each other in a fury of feathers and flying feet, so quickly that the eye can hardly follow the action. The crowd groans and shouts, almost as one man, following the action with united body English. Rather soon one cock lands a solid stab with its taji. At once its handler signals the head referee to stop the first round. This is done to prevent the two animals from making further contact, since the wounded cock could easily stab the one that stabbed him, when the latter closes in to peck him to death. The time keeper nlw starts his count.

In the old days the time keeper used a unique kind of clock called ceng, a half coconut shell with a hole in the bottom, placed, large side up, in a bucket of water. Its sinking time, obviously rather variable from place to place, but usually about 10 seconds, is also called one ceng. The time keeper's gong was sounded once after each ceng. Three ceng are allowed between rounds. Nowadays the referee simply counts off the seconds out loud so all can hear.

Meanwhile the handler of the wounded cock works frantically over his bird, trying all of his tricks to revive it and give it spirit. And he is often quite successful, the injured animal, seemingly indifferent to its wound, sails right into the other one. At the end of the third ceng, both cocks have to be put on the ground immediately. Failure to do so forfeits the match. Round two starts. If the wounded cock cannot stand, and if the other one can stand for one ceng, the match is over. If the two birds start fighting, the match proceeds as in round one, until one or the other is struck. The fighting is again stopped, a three- ceng period is allowed for the revival of the injured animal, and the fight continues. If both cocks are still going strong after five rounds, the match is declared a draw. This seldom occurs. The time keeper used to keep track of rounds on a special counter, a wooden frame with a horizontal wire. Five wooden strips were suspended vertically from the wire, sort of like the beads of an abacus. The timer pushed one counter aside after each round.

It frequently happens that the wounded cock loses its appetite for fighting. Or, in some cases, a cock may not have any desire to fight at all right from the beginning, and tries to escape from the arena. The crowd scatters quickly because  wildly escaping cock with a lethal dagger strapped to its leg could cause great harm. One or another of the spectators grabs it by the neck and returns it to the ring. The handler has 9 ceng to get his animal back into action or he forfeits the fight.

Another rest is signaled if the cocks do not start fighting, but, rather, merely walk around the arena without trying to escape. During this time the handlers of the reluctant cocks try to urge them on. In the next round, if they are unsuccessful, and the cocks do not clash, the winner is determined by use of an ordinary bamboo cock cage without a bottom. It is the tie breaker - the finisher. There must always be a winner. The two reluctant cocks are placed on the ground under the cage, and the referee brings it down quickly and leaves it down for one ceng. The head referee looks carefully from close up. Victory goes simply to the aggressor. It not need kill or even wound the other cock, although it frequently does. kill the other. It merely has to display aggression. But, if the two cocks, now face to face with no retreat, start to fight again, the cage is removed and the fight continues as before. The second round, if there is one, and succeeding rounds, is always started with the two cocks facing each other close together in the center of the arena, where a small square is marked, rather from the sides of the arena, as when the fight starts.

As soon as the winner is declared the bets must be paid up. Side bets are paid in cash - at once. No IOUs. In large, crowded arenas those who are wedged into the crowd wad up their bills and throw them at the persons who won their money. If the money misses or lands in the arena, someone always forwards it to the rightful owner. There is remarkably little bickering and dispute over who owes what to whom.

The owner of the winning cock gets the entire central bet, which has been kept by the referee during the fight. From this he must pay the handlers, the blade affixer, the percentage to the house, and all those who contributed to his share of the central bet. He also gets the body of the losing cock. He always gives the chopped off taji leg to the tying specialist who unwinds the string, puts the blade back in stock, and looks for further work.

The match itself has lasted only a few minutes. At once the second match of the set begins. The cocks have already had their taji attached. Their handlers carry them into the arena, the central bet is quickly made, and the side betting begins just as before. There is no connection at all between the separate matches. One set consists of four or five matches. When they are over, the handlers and hangers-on come out into the arena and start looking for opponents, just as they did before the first set. This goes on all afternoon until dark, thec crowd never thinning until it is all over. Since many temple anniversary festivals last for three days, there are often cockfights on three successive days too.

Cockfights are regularly held at ceremonies that occur in family house compounds when it has been determined that the grounds are unclean and need some sort of purification so as to make the place livable. At such times a very large offering, called a caru, is made inside an enclosure of coconut leaf mats, and the butakala asked to help the people who own the property, rather than interfere with daily activities. This is inevitably preceded by a cockfight, as the word gets around fast, and villagers from all overcome and stage an impromptu tajen right inside the family house compound. There is a small, important shrine just outside the front door of my house. On the day of its anniversary, every 210 days, as many as 50 men gather for the obligatory tajen. The family with whom I live are not gamblers and don't even own a single fighting cock. But, they consider it imperative to participate in the fight, and so they buy a cock from a friend, give it to a neighbor to handle in the first fight, and place small bets on it, just so that they can be a part of the activities of the anniversary of their shrine.

Gambling on cocks has been responsible for the dissipation of a good many Balinese fortunes, large and small. Many a rajah of old lost his palace, wives, and treasure by being cock crazy, as the Balinese call an habitual better. I have heard from many of my Balinese friends how their fathers or grandfathers were reduced to poverty by this addicting habit.

Cockfights & Culture

It is difficult to penetrate the shell of many cultures. The adjective inscrutable has been overworked in the case of Asia, but it is apt. Fear of misunderstanding and ridicule, desire to maintain privacy, and unwillingness to risk profanation of the sacred have required some groups to erect formidable barriers that prevent perforation by the casual observer. But, every now and then one finds an opening, a cultural crack through which a glimpse of the interior is possible.

Such cracks often occur in connection with public events that are so popular and are participated in with such vigor and enthusiasm that, for the time being, the protective reserve and dignity and politeness shown to foreigners are forgotten, and the real values and character of the people hang out, so to speak, for everyone to see.

Fighting cocks, cockfighting, and wagering on the fights have been popular obsessions with the Balinese for generations. The tourist who can worm his way into the sweating, jostling, noisy, gesticulating crowd of men and join them, standing around an open arena, watching the proceedings, might wonder if he has stepped into a different country. Are these the graceful, deferential, dignified people whom he has seen in his hotel? Are these the same individuals who carry the offerings to the temples and pray with such lovely and heart-felt fervor? There is no better place than the cockfight to observe Balinese values and behavior. But, the casual observer is likely to focus his attention on the brief cockfight itself. This is understandable. The boisterous crowd itself is a sight to behold. As it suddenly quieted down and the action began, the fast and furious flurries of engagement are punctuated with the ohhhh's, and ahhhh's of the audience. The impressions of color and primeval combat were blurs of color. and suddenly it is over, and the tourist leaves.

But, if that is the only impression, the visitor misses most of the significance. The preliminaries and the post script, the daily treatment of the fighting cocks, the arcane lore of the sport, and especially the intricacies of the betting are as integral a part of the story as the fight itself. And, unfortunately, they are aspects that most people miss because they occur in such a seemingly chaotic fashion as to make them unintelligible to anyone but the person who would take the time and trouble to investigate.

Nowadays it is not easy for the casual tourist even to find a cockfight. Years ago they were common, daily events. Visitors to Bali with sufficient interest, flexibility, and time will find it very interesting to inquire from local people when and where cockfights are going to occur so that they can look for themselves through this window of Balinese culture.