GoPro INTRUDU at PortSett

The “Intrudu” celebration starts as early as 9.00 a.m. in the morning. Get to Portuguese Settlement in Malacca and join in the water splashing fun! Well, if you’re in the water war zone, you won’t be able to escape dry. This is the only day where everyone will be splashing water at each other, without getting mad, just to have fun!

The water festival traces its roots all the way back to 1511 during the arrival of the Portuguese to Malacca. The “Intrudu” festival is a centuries-old celebration, unique to the Portuguese community in Malaysia. This water-dousing rite symbolizes purification before the start of fasting and penance. The “Intrudu” tradition portrays the importance of water and reminds the Portuguese community of the time where fishing was the prime livelihood of their forefathers.

This unique traditional celebration is observed on the Sunday preceding Ash Wednesday – the starting of the forty-day Lent period before Easter in April, a time of prayer and fasting to remember Christ’s death.

“Pincha Agu” is what they called in the Portuguese Kristang language. When everybody walks along the road they will be splash with the water. The ceremony then continued until afternoon and all the villagers will take part. At the evening, the village will be served with a parade called “Branyo Rudia” that decorated with song and dance “Jingling Nona“. This “Intrudu” Festival is celebrated according to their Catholic Calendar.

The same day in the evening, there will be a community football match between the Portuguese married men and the bachelors at the settlement field. This is not an ordinary match but a fancy football match where you will see men wearing women costumes playing football.

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