Kuda Kepang (Kuda Lumping)

In Malaysia it is knowns as Kuda Kepang and in Indonesia it is Kuda Lumping.

It is basically a mystic art dance which tells a story of 9 horseman that came back in victory from a battle. It was a war won for, in the name of Islam.

It has it's origins in Java which is part of Indonesia. This dance can be seem in many places & occations such as malay weddings and many more.



The thing about it is that as long as it is just something very ordinary it is very okay.

But however the moment it becomes into something too fantastic which is something out of the norm then it considered to be the Occult version of Kuda Kepang (Kuda Lumping) even by the Muslim communities themselves.

Fantastic things can be such as eating of the grass of the horse rider, walking on fire or broken pieces of glass or jumping to a great height.







I have long been mystified by the ‘art’ of Kuda Kepang. Popular as part of the Malay culture, the dance can be seen usually during special events like weddings or opening ceremonies and is usually accompanied with the soft melodies of the Gamelan. Usually, the performance would involve the participants to dance around with a cutout of a horse, akin to riding that said horse.

However, a more mystic side of Kuda Kepang seems to be on the rise these days, after a dwindling of it for the past few years. Instead of just harnessing the powers of the human body, other ‘external’ forces from the ‘other’ world were called on to make the performance a more intriguing one.

The following would be examples of what I mean by a more intriguing performance:



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