Tulak Bala: Send the disaster go away

The Tulak Bala (literally: refused reinforcements) is a ritual performed by Minangkabau traditional communities to drive something called bala (disasters), such as plague, drought or other natural disasters. Typically, this ritual conducted together by the population in certain villages, who feel that the disaster surrounded them. But it may also be implemented as a form of anticipation, so that disasters do not come to their villages.

In the execution of tulak bala ritual, village communities, or some person who was selected as a representative or can also volunteered, who became executor of ritual, usually will down around the village roads as they read the prayers of salvation, which is typically called "ratik". Often too, the reading of ratik is accompanied by the burning of incense, so that the incense smoke also scattered along the villages road. However, this incense burning, in the present day being abandoned, along with the knowledge advanced of the society.

In the past, the smoke of incense is believed could accelerate the arrival of the prayer. According to various sources, the involvement of incense smoke in the in traditional rituals, is a form of Islamic acculturation with the previous religion, ie Hinduism and Buddhism.

After performing the ritual around the village, the executor of ritual which consists of clergy, scholars and community leaders gathered again in a place that had been planned, mostly in the courtyard of a mosque or any house.

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