Chap Goh Mei with a "Tatung" procession in Singkawang

The highlight of the Chinese New Year celebration is the night to 15th of the first month in the Chinese calendar, or more commonly referred to celebration Chap Goh Mei, as we have seen this celebration is very thick with native cultural influences from mainland China.

This year the celebration of Chap Goh Mei right on February 14, 2014.

Almost all residents of Chinese descent who have experienced the diaspora to various countries, as was the case in Indonesia and other countries. The peak greatest festive of Chinese New Year celebrations in Indonesia is in Singkawang, West Kalimantan.

And even the same thing happened in other cities where there is a community of Chinese descent, for example, in the cities in Indonesia, such as Medan, Palembang, Jakarta, Bogor, Semarang, Surabaya and other cities.

Festival Chap Goh Mei at Singkawang is a unique festival that is held in Indonesia and was awarded "Wonderful of the World 2014" by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy with Marketing Plus.

The event enlivened by the presence of 600 "Tatung" which is a shaman (medicine man) with a typical traditional Chinese costume, a celebration procession begins at Kridasana Square, and ending at the Market in the middle of the city of Singkawang.

Tatung is a traditional healing ritual that is estimated to have more than 450 years old. Is a rare ritual that is only found in three countries, Indonesia, India and Cambodia. Tatung has to be considered as part of the celebration of the Festival Chap Goh Mei at there as a symbol of cleansing ourselves of all the bad things that happened in the past and welcome the new year better.

Prepare yourself to witness the appearance of the Tatung attraction, as they stand on a nail, a large knife and the mandau (traditional sword in the interior of Borneo’s Dayak tribe), eating live chickens and piercing the face with an iron size of a stick, 5 centimeters in diameter.

The event took place lively, the audiences and the tourist welcomes happily, frenetic sound of pounding drums and instruments sounds of traditional Chinese celebration filled the arena.

The lively Barong Say dance snaking between the audience symbolizes the dragon and a giant snake dance. Evil spirits to go off and welcomes a better new year again.

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(Source T Singarimbun - Pontianak, Kompas /Images A Purwandari)