"They are for cock fighting..."
These words were said by the driver minutes before we pulled up to a Balinese Hindu Temple...not knowing what we were in store for. We needed to put on sarongs in order to enter the temple. The temple was beautifully decorated and made from volcanic rock. As we went further into the outdoor temple grounds we found a group of people gathering. It looked to be some sort of ceremony. I slowly approached an took this video:
It was a cock fight. Two aggressive rosters with blades on their feet were released at one another with money on the line...and a lot of it. There are two different words said in the video above, one meaning "I'll bet on this rooster" and the other meaning "I'll take that bet". At the end of the above video you can hear the chant change from the first to the second word.
The chanting stops and everyone in the crowd moves in to get as close to the action with about becoming a part of it. My eyes only saw the reaction of the crowd, but I did stick my arm up as far as I could to get over the hoards of people. This video truly shows the emotions of the gamblers with some breaks in the crowd where you can see the cock fight.
The loser was carried off in dismay by its owner and the winner...
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