Mukah Kaul Festival 2009 - Part I

I was in Mukah recently for a business trip, and fortunately for me it was during the Kaul Festival. Mukah is a coastal town and most of the local folks used to depend on the sea for their livelihood. A majority of the local population is Melanau, and they used to celebrate Kaul in April every year to appease the land and the sea, ensuring a bountiful harvest in the following year. 

Nowadays, Kaul is celebrated more as a social and cultural event. The main events are held at the beach which is a few km from Mukah town. As with most celebrations in Malaysia nowadays, a bazaar is an important part of the event.

The Mukah Beach is sadly littered with debris from the nearby rivers. Otherwise this would have been a perfect setting for the Festival.

The Melanaus create beautiful decorations out of atap (tatch) and straw for the festival, and these can be seen everywhere at the bazaar.