Savika

Savika, also savik'omby or savika omby (lit. 'to cling to the back of a zebu'), is a traditional zebu-wrestling sport of Madagascar's Betsileo people, in which fighters, called mpisavika, attempt to bring a zebu ox to the ground by its horns or hump. Though the practice can be found throughout Madagascar's Central Highlands, it is most common in the Ambositra region, outside of which it is called tolon'omby (lit. 'to fight against the zebu'). The tradition, which accompanies many festivities and rituals for the Betsileo, is particularly important as a courtship practice for young men to impress potential brides and their families. Preparation for savika begins in childhood, with boys playing make-believe zebu games known as kiombiomby before training with real bulls. Originating as an ancient game between rice farmers and their cattle, savika has evolved into a complex ritual involving magical healers, traditional guardians, and legendary wrestlers. There is no written guidance for the rituals of savika; it is entirely an oral tradition passed to young men from fathers, village mystics, and older fighters. Various legends offering mythic explanations for savika exist among the Betsileo, whose agrarian society centers around the zebu ox. Savika has endured through significant cultural shifts, including Madagascar's Christianization, colonization, and decolonization, into the modern day. In recent decades, a standardized, professional form of savika has developed as a popular spectator sport around the nation's capital.

Tradition

Savika an-tanimbary Savika an-tanimbary ('savika in the rice paddies') is the original, ludic form of savika, wherein farmers bring zebu to the wet rice paddies during the planting season (October to December) to trample the earth and wrestle them in the mud. It is done to entertain the farmers and maintain the health of the cattle. Farmers may also excite the oxen by mounting them, facilitating deeper penetration of the soil as the agitated zebu stomps, jumps, and runs.

Ritual and spectacle savika

Occasions Besides savika an-tanimbary, savika matches coincide with festivals and rituals in the Betsileo calendar. Organizing a savika spectacle displays wealth, and it is traditionally the responsibility of high elders and great fighters. Local entrepreneurs and candidates for public office may also host savika.

During the period of circumcision rites (held in the colder months of May or June, so that the boys' wounds heal more quickly), families organize savika to promote strength and persistence in children. Christian Betsileo associate the savika season with Easter and Pentecost. Fights also take place surrounding famadihana, the annual ceremony of exhuming ancestral corpses. Some tribes organize funerary savika as part of the festivities that follow procession and burial: the ritual is intended to distract one of the deceased's two immortal souls. Among the Betsileo, the wrestled bull is eventually slaughtered, and its meat is used to feed the guests or be presented to guests in return for their gifts. Dennis Regnier recounts a savika at an ancestor-honoring festival. After the zebu was ritually slaughtered, a man entered the pen and repeatedly struck the zebu's corpse, announcing name changes in the village to onlookers and ancestors. The name-changing ritual took place at the savika because of the crowd's size and attentiveness, and the animal's corpse was struck to retain the attention of the ancestors. Some villages, most notably the commune of Manandriana-Avaradrano, stage savika to celebrate Madagascar's Independence Day on June 26.

Zebu selection Fighting zebu raised for savika are fed supplementary diets of cassava and yam twice a day. Zebu are chosen based on appearance, pedigree, and apparent fierceness and strength. Good savika zebu generally have large humps, developed horns, and lean, muscular bodies, are between 3 and 4 years old, and weigh between 300 and 400 kg. The most desirable zebu are either reddish-black with grey ears, or sport a tricolor (red, black, and white) coat. Buyers test the aggression of zebus at market by poking them with sticks, and aggressive zebu fetch much higher prices than docile cattle, especially when fighters are present at market. Zebu aggression is described according to a system of classification (e.g. magnapika zebu, who "gore from bottom to top"). Once a zebu is purchased, an ombiasa (healer) performs rituals to render the ox invincible, and feeds it a strengthening potion whose formula is kept secret to prevent the production of an antidote. Docile zebu who are otherwise good candidates for savika may be given stimulants before entering the arena.

Rites and preparation

Savika is considered sacred, and the fight itself is preceded by a number of rites, including offerings of rum, requests for blessing, and a period of sexual abstinence. Mpisavika (fighters) form teams of about ten according to village affiliation and skill level, overseen by raimandreny (protectors) and ombiasa. Sons-in-law form their own class, called vinato. Teams meet on the day before the fight to eat together out of one bowl and purify themselves with magical talismans or potions called ody. To prepare for the fight, mpisavika follow certain fady (taboos) symbolizing avoidance of junction or penetration: no sitting at crossroads, no drinking at the intersections of streams, no eating foods that have been mixed together. One taboo requires that no women enter the arena, with the consequence of its violation being serious injury or death. For this reason, there are no female mpisavika. Mpisavika who arrive for a fight in a place unknown to them must consult the local ombiasy to learn the local fady. Violation of these fady is believed to result in injury to the fighter. An mpisavika who has violated the necessary fady must make a costly sacrifice, which can range from a rooster to a healthy zebu, depending on the severity of his infraction. If the violator suffers a serious injury in the fight, the ombiasy is tasked with healing him, often using his own saliva mixed with the medicinal plants fanamoka, ahibalala, and tsimanandra. On the day of the fight, the fighters traditionally swallow a strength potion and wear special clothing. Fighters of the forest-dwelling Tanala tribe drink an infusion of saro and soafotsy as a pre-savika tonic. Betsileo mpisavika often drink alcohol before fighting, including at funerals.

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