The traditional pacu jalur boat-racing sport has recently gone viral, gaining wide recognition both in Indonesia and abroad over the past two weeks. The trigger was a video of Rayyan Arkan Dikha, an 11-year-old from Riau who performs as Togak Luan, the dancer who stands on the bow to spur the crew. In the widely shared clip he wears a Teluk Belanga outfit and a Riau-Malay headpiece while standing on the prow of a racing canoe paddled by at least eleven adults. The distinctive, easy-to-imitate moves quickly became a popular TikTok dance. French football club Paris Saint-Germain uploaded its own version on TikTok titled “The aura reached Paris,” which garnered more than seven million views in just ten days. The next day, Travis Kelce—NFL player and partner of pop star Taylor Swift—posted his own rendition; Kelce’s video has since been viewed more than fourteen million times.

According to the Socindex dashboard, from 1 to 15 July 2025 there were 58,884 interactions—posts, shares, replies, and comments—reaching a potential audience of 1,001,395,415 people.

This virality was driven not only by local social-media chatter but also by international accounts. Socindex’s SNA map captured global amplification: accounts such as MotoGP shared a clip of rider @marcmarquez93 dancing the “aura farming” moves popularized by Rayyan. Such accounts played a major role in spreading the dance.

Rayyan’s dance is an example of organic virality: the conversation is dominated by accounts run directly by humans, not bots or automated software that repeatedly post content.

Another interesting point is the demographic profile of the accounts driving the discussion. They are dominated by males aged 31–35, an unusual pattern because most viral TikTok dances are usually led by teenage girls.

The dance’s popularity has sparked hopes that Indonesian local sports can gain global recognition by leveraging this viral moment to introduce and teach one of Indonesia’s many indigenous cultures. One user, @MikaelDewabrata, criticized the Ministry of Culture for failing to capitalize on the opportunity to promote Indonesia’s original culture.

Seizing this momentum should also be initiated by the Indonesian government. American rapper Melly Mike went viral because his song is used as the backing track for the TikTok pacu jalur dance challenge. The song’s newfound fame has made him eager to perform—at no fee—at the 2025 Pacu Jalur Festival, saying his track became popular thanks to pacu jalur. He has contacted the organizers himself, yet to date the government has taken no concrete steps to harness the attention generated by this viral moment—an omission many find regrettable.

Writer: Johanna Manalu (Socindex), Ilustrator: Aan K. Riyadi