Klungkung, Ancient Kingdoms

The Game of Lutung Ngerem Ikut

This traditional game was lifted from the fable I Lutung. The naughty and messy behaviour of I Lutung is packed and created as a game called Lutung Ngerem Ikut. This game is usually performed by the students of SD (Elementary School) Negeri 1 Semarapura Tengah, Klungkung at each school party. The school is located to the west side of Kertha Gosa tourism object, about ½ km from Semarapura City, or about 39 km from Denpasar. At the school party, this game has been very popular and children are as eager to play it as they are modern games such as play station.

According to Wayan Sujantha S.Pd, the game’s coordinator, the story of Lutung Ngerem Ikut tells about the revenge of I Kaki (grandfather) Cubling against I Lutung (a monkey), who always stole his food. Kaki Cubling became mad, then caught and tied I Lutung, and put some chilli on its tail. With his cunning, Lutung finally escaped. He ran faster to seek a river to soak his hot and painful tail. This game follows this story and is called Lutung Ngerem Ikut (a monkey soaks its tail).
Sujantha, who also teaches about Hinduism adds that the game aims to bring a new dimension and nuance for the children in the form of a traditional game. “Presently, the children rarely play the simple and local traditional games. They are more attracted by a commercial and individual modern game”, he said while adding that this game contains a purity value that has an important role in social activities, culture, movement and art.
How to Play
This game is played by 2 groups of equal players. Each group has a representative chosen by collective agreement. The person who is chosen has his/her wrist tied up by a rope and the rest of the rope hangs down (ngelenteng) at the back. A pendulum is hung on the tip of the long rope as same as the monkey. Meanwhile, a bottle is placed far enough from the player at the same distance from each opponent.
Before the game starts, both groups will sing a song together. The whistle is blown, the game starts and the players begin to compete. The chosen player runs to the bottle and tries to put the pendulum inside the bottle. The first player who succeeds and then puts the bottle back in its place is the winner. The looser will be punished based on the agreement and followed by the song of Lutung Ngerem Ikut.
To make this game joyous, the rules of the game can be changed based on collective agreement. The more difficult the game, the more it will challenge the players. The tools needed in this game are a plastic bottle, a rope 1.5 meters long, a cork pendulum or nail, a whistle, a plastic chair, and complete instruments. (BTN/033)