From the eastern to the western part of the island, Flores is covered with betong (bamboo)
trees. Locals are accustomed to using betongin their daily lives, as it
is multi-functional from holding drinking water to building homes
Betong is used in Cultural activities,such as to make musical instruments called bombardom. Villagers use the largest betong to make cannons,which are only fired on Christmas.Director of Saeh Go Lino Ruteng,Armin Bell,said," In the olden days ",the betong cannon was only fired when there were big events in the villages.Then the cannons were only fired when there was a death of a village elder,and after a while,the tradition disappeared " As for wht the cannons are fired on Christmas,Armin said, ' I think it's because people on Flores more specifically in Manggarai have embraced Catholicism since 1912, and Christmas is seen an important event."
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