Kaul Festival in Mukah Sarawak

Mukah, located in Central Sarawak is slowly emergingtraditional giant swing 20 feet high. Young people would
into an important coastal town with a bright future. Itsdaringly dive down to catch a swinging rope. This is
population are mainly Melanau where they are knowobviously not for the faint hearted. Graceful dancers
as the sago-eating tribe. Kuching city on the other handalso performed at the event with their traditional alu-alu
is located at the Western tip of Sarawak. There aredance. Sri Ritma won the first prize with rm2,000 prize
many ways to go to Mukah and one can go to Mukahmoney. Other activities included martial arts
either by car, plane from or by boat from Sibu. It takesdemonstrations and parade by local community
over 5 hours to reach Mukah from Sibu.leaders. It is at this event that you get to witness the
The local Melanaus in Mukah, Sarawak recentlymany facets of the Melanau community.
celebrated the Kaul Festival (Pesta Kaul). It was aThe most famous dish from Mukah would be the umai
myriad of events with more than 10,000 peopledish, which is a raw fish delicacy prepared out of raw
attending it. This festival is unique to the Melanaus isfish and consumed in the form of salad. Several
held every year around the month of March to April.different types of raw fishes are used for preparing
Kaul Festival is a thanksgiving festival to appease theUmai. You can either have it plain, sliced fish with spicy
spirits of the farms, forests, land and sea. Thechili sauce or raw fish mixed with lime juice, sliced
Melanaus would express their gratitude to the spiritsonions, chilies, sugar and salt. The other popular dish
for keeping them safe through the monsoon season.would be the sago pellet.
They are also expressing their desire for anCome visit Mukah and learn about culture and their
abundance of fishes caught on their fishing journeys.uniqueness.
The main highlights in the event is the "tibau", a