Mengapa Tajen Sukar Diberantas?

1. Tradisi menyabung ayam (yang disebut tajen dalam bahasa lokal) telah lama mengakar
dalam kehidupan sosial masyarakat Bali.
2. Di samping digelar dalam rangka upacara keagamaan, juga sering dijadikan hiburan dan
karena ada unsur kalah-menang, maka juga sering dijadikan arena perjudian.
3. Meskipun pemerintah secara resmi telah melarang segala jenis hiburan yang mengandung
unsur perjudian, kenyataannya tajen di Bali masih dijumpai di sana sini. Bahkan razia
oleh polisi sering menemui perlawanan yang kuat.
4. Sabung ayam sudah berabad-abad merupakan bagian dari budaya Bali, maka sudah
selayaknya mempunyai potensi untuk dapat berlangsung terus kecuali mungkin jika
secara konsisten dan keras diberantas oleh pemerintah.
5. Penyelenggaraan sabung ayam di Bali kerap dihubungkan dengan sistem ritual
keagamaan. Karena alasan ini sabung ayam yang dikenal dengan istilah tabuh rah sering
digelar dalam rangka upacara mecaru.
6. Konsepnya adalah bahwa darah ayam yang menetes ke tanah dipandang mengandung
kekuatan magis yang berfungsi untuk menetralisi segala pengaruh kekuatan gaib negative
yang menyerang tanah (bumi).
7. Pada masa lalu, hampir disetiap kabupaten ada tempat khusus yang difungsikan sebagai
arena tajen besar yang disebut tajen gede yang dihadiri oleh para penjudi kelas kakap dari
lintas kabupaten.
8. Selain tajen gede, juga ada tajen dengan skala lebih kecil yang melibatkan para bebotoh
di sekitar lingkungan desa atau banjar setempat.
9. Sampai saat ini para penjudi yang biasa pun sering menyalahgunakan upacara tabuh rah.
Untuk mencapai tujuannya mereka membentuk organisasi semacam mafia, yang diketuai
oleh anggota yang paling disegani dan paling pandai bernegosiasi dengan polisi.
10. Tentu saja tajen yang diorganisasi oleh mafia dapat menyimpang lebih jauh dari norma
umum, misalnya mereka melaksanakan aduan jauh lebih banyak dari yang diterima oleh
norma umum dan mereka menyelenggarakannya jauh dari tempat upacara.
 Why is Cockfighting Difficult to Eradicate?
1. The tradition of cockfighting (called tajen in the local language) has taken root in the
social life of Balinese people since a long time ago.
2. Besides it is performed by reason of religious ceremony, it is also often used as an
entertainment. However, since there is a win-lose element in the performance, so it is also
often used as a gambling arena.
3. Although the government has officially banned all types of entertainment that contain
elements of gambling, in fact, tajen is still found here and there in Bali. Moreover, a
police raid often meets strong opposition.
4. Cockfighting has been part of Balinese culture for centuries, so there is enormous
potential for it to keep on surviving unless it is strongly and consistently eradicated by the
government.
5. The performance of cockfighting in Bali is connected with religious ritual systems. For
this reason, cockfighting known as tabuh rah1 is often performed within the framework
of mecaru2 ceremony.
6. The concept is that the chicken blood dropping into the ground is considered to contain
magical power that functions to neutralize any negative influence of supernatural powers
that damages the ground (the Earth).
7. In the past, almost every regent had a special site that was functioned as a large tajen
arena called tajen gede and was attended by rich gamblers across the regents.
8. In addition to tajen gede, there was also a smaller scale tajen involving gamblers who
lived around the village or around the local banjar3.
9. Until present, even the common gamblers have often misused the tabuh rah ceremony.
To achieve their aim, they form a kind of mafia organization that is chaired by the most
respected and the most capable member to negotiate with the police.
10. Of course, the performance of tajen which is organized by the Mafia can deviate from the
public norm, such as they carry the cock fights in large quantities than it is regulated in
general norm and they organize it away from the ceremony site.

1
Tabuh rah is derived from the word tabuh which means pouring a liquid into the ground and the word rah for blood.
2
Mecaru is a ceremony especially intended to strike a balance between man and nature.
3
Banjar is a local community hall in a village. There are usually four or five banjars in a village.