THE GUIDE - The Rough Guide to Bali and Lombok - page 423

a foundation of stones. It's been renovated of course, but apparently in the original style.
You can't go inside but you can peek through the holes in the bamboo walls to see the mud
floor and the bamboo torches, which light the interior during the few festival days when
the mosque is used. This whole area, around the foothills of Gunung Rinjani and the sacred
mountain itself, is a stronghold of the Wetu Telu branch of Islam, and Masjid Kuno Bayan
Beleq has a central role.
Continuing east, the main road winds 8km through the foothills of Gunung Rinjani, offering
fine views of the volcano and soon giving way to the arid terrain of the east of Lombok. From
the junction village of Kokok Putih , also known as Kalih Putih, buses run to the Sembalun
valley, an alternative access-point for treks up Rinjani. The main road around the north coast
continues for another 10km to Obel Obel and on to the east coast.
WETU TELU
Followers of Wetu Telu - which translates as “three times”, possibly referring to the num-
ber of daily prayer-times - adhere to the central tenets of Islam, such as belief in Allah as
the one God and Muhammad as his prophet, but diverge significantly from the practices of
orthodox Muslims, who, because they pray five times a day, are known as “Wetu Lima”.
For the Wetu Telu, the older traditions of ancestor worship and animism persist and
there are many similarities with Balinese Hindu beliefs and practices; both worship at Pura
Lingsar, and Wetu Telu believe that Gunung Rinjani is the dwelling place of the ancestors
and the supreme god and make pilgrimages to the mountain. There are many Wetu Telu
villages around Rinjani, including Bayan , whose ancient mosque is especially important.
Many Wetu Telu observe a three-day fast rather than the full month of Ramadan . The most
important Wetu Telu rituals are life-cycle ceremonies associated with birth, death, mar-
riage and circumcision, as well as rituals connected with agriculture and house-building.
Their central annual festival is Maulid , Muhammad's birthday.
Throughout their history, the Wetu Telu have been subjected to varying degrees of pres-
sure to conform to mainstream Islamic ideas. During the civil unrest in 1965 anyone less
than scrupulously orthodox was in danger of being regarded as communist and there were
attacks against the Wetu Telu. These days many Wetu Telu profess to follow orthodox
Islam while also carrying out their Wetu Telu observances under the label of adat , custom-
ary practices.