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NADI, TRANCE IN THE BALINESE ART
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ART PERFORMANCE: RELIGION AND ART
Its Sunday in the week of Wuku Medangsia according
to the traditional Balinese calendar. The place:the inner courtyard of Petilan temple in
Pangrebongan, Kesiman, East Denpasar. Many people
are at prayer, both male and female sat on the
ground. Soon they turn their attention towards the
front row, in front of the two main buildings.
There are the pamangkus-temple priests over there,
some of them wearing the special costumes of Rangdawith the Rangda masks in front. Meanwhile, there
are rows of black and white Barongs, each carried
by two men.
The sound of a gamelan orchestra can be heard in
the north west corner of the temple. The music is
getting faster and louder. Incense smoke is
spiralling high. Suddenly loud yells are heard hereand there. The pamangkus wearing Rangda costumes
stand up and announce loudly a few words while
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warding off a white cloth adorned with rerajahan-
symbols and characters. The Barongs begin jumping
up and down as they become possessed by spirits.
Dozens of people likewise enter trance, most of
them men who are then restrained by their friends.
This is the beginning of kerauhan(being entered by a spirit) and nadi.Next, a Rangdamask is put on thehead of each Pamangku who hasbeen entered by a spirit, TheRangdas soon emerge from the
Kori Agung
the great gate of thetemple- accompanied by Barongsand others having been entered byspirits as they stab their nakedbodies (ngerebong or ngurek) withthe traditional wavy double-bladeddaggers known locally as the keris.They all start walking around thefront and back of the wantilan in the
western part of the temple, circling
it three times. This procession isheld every 210 days at this templeand is accompanied by thecacophonous traditional gongorchestra. This routine procession
describes one of the magic nadiprocesses that we are able toobserve directly. It is truly amazingthat none of these people are hurt
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despite their repeated attempts topierce their bodies. Some stab theirchests, necks, and even their eyes.It is indeed strange that not one ofthe keris daggers causes anydamage, even though the kerisesflex as the stabbing ensues.
The performance is a
combination of religion and
art because prayer is part of
religious life, while the
music of the gamelan
orchestra, as well as the
Rangda and Barong who
occasionally dance, are forms
of art. Since the arts and
religion are inseparable in
Bali, the Balinese divide
their arts into three
categories: Wali, Bebali and
Balih-balihan. Waliis an art
performance that belongs topart of a ceremony; Bebaliis
an art performance to
accompany a ritual ceremony;
and finally Balih-balihan is
an art performance for
entertainment purposes only.
The aforementioned kerauhan
and nadi often occur in thefirst two categories, the
waliand bebalidances.
For Hindu people in Bali, the
arts cannot be separated from
religion. At every large-
scale ceremony at Besakih
temple (the mother temple),
for example, art performances
are de rigeur. This is even
the case at larger ceremonies
at village and family
temples. In short, for
Balinese Hindus, the arts are
a primary need.
There is much mystery
surrounding the Balinese artsbecause they are considered
the realization of Balinese
people in the eyes of God
Almighty and also their
deified ancestors who
inhabit the realm of the
Gods. Balinese arts are
actually derived from sacredritual cererqonies, and
therefore every Balinese
artist, from no matter what
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branch of the arts, is always
related to his or her sacred
surroundings as the inherited
tradition in the performing
arts. This can be seen prior
to an art performance, when
an artist will pray to the
gods for permission to
perform. Furthermore, they
will always find an
auspicious day on which to
begin an art activity.
There are many kinds of
mantras used for this purpose
in the arts, one of them is :
Om hidepku Sanghyang
murttining lewih,
masarirang aku, aku
Sanghyang Semara Murtti,
sarwa jagat asih ring
hunyan-hunyanku, Om sidhi
mandi mantramku, Ih I bhuta
Kala Graha, I Bhuta
Kapiragan, Om Sang Kala
Edan, iki bukti sajinira,
yan sira wus amukti,
rowangen hulun manglilalila
mangigel. Om siddhi mandi
mantramku.
(Om, my wish is for
Sanghyang Murttining Lewih,
to be transformed into my
body. I am the Sanghyang
Semara Murtti, all in the
world love my
entertainment. Om, may my
charms successful. Ih,
Bhuta Kala Graha, I Bhuta
Kapiragan, Om Sang Kala
Edan, please partake of my
offerings, and when you
have partaken of them
please accompany me so that
I might dance joyfully. Om,
may my charms successful).
This is an example of a
prayer spoken by a dancer to
himself before performing on
stage. This means that a
dancer prays to God Almighty
for power, and even for a
spirit to enter and to
transmogrify him during a
performance. The prayers are
accompanied by offerings, the
details of which are not
explained here.
In saying a prayer, a dancer
surrenders himself to the God
Almighty. The dancer becomes
a manifestation of the
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Almighty, and as such gives
joy, entertains, and makes a
ceremony a success. The
artist surrenders himself to
the Creator along with his
artistic knowledge, because
art is itself an offering and
a service, or ngayah, to the
Creator only.
THE RIGHTS OF THE LIVINGThe Balinese Hindus do not
only respect human rights but
also the rights of the
living. This is because human
beings must respect the
rights of others, including
all of Gods creatures such
as plants and animals.
Tumpek Kandang, for example,
is a day of respect to
animals as the Gods
creations, and Tumpek Bubuh
is in respect of plants.
Therefore, before
slaughtering animals
especially those being used
for ritual ceremonies, a
mantra shall first of all be
whispered to them. This is
done by priests or the master
of ceremonies, so that the
spirits of the slaughtered
animals can go to a better
place and be reincarnated
into a higher being, human
for example. Meanwhile for
plants there are certain days
on which Balinese people are
not allowed to harvest them.
For example, it is taboo to
chop bamboo on a Sunday. In
this way Balinese culture and
tradition always refers to
Hindu teachings.
One day, an international
tourist remarked to the
Head of Bali Tourism
Department: I feel that
there is a big difference
between trees growing in
Bali compared to those
outside Bali, and even
more so overseas. The
trees here are really
alive as if they had
souls. They even sway
differently. The Head of
Bali Tourism Department
explained as follows, I
believe that it happens
due to the fact that every210 days we Balinese
always pray in Tumpek
Bubuh, paying respect to
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plants as Gods
creations. In the arts,
Balinese people also have
important days on which
they pay respect to their
arts. Tumpek Wayang and
Tumpek Krulut are the
important most days on
which to pay respect to
arts. Therefore, the arts
in Bali always grow well.
On Tumpek Krulut, Hindu
people present offerings
to God Almighty in for thecreation of sound. Then,
the gamelan orchestras in
each Banjar are given a
ceremony. See this
sentences taken from
Prakempa a lontar on
gamelan:Mwang yaning angupakara
salwiring tatabuhan rikalawuku Krulut, ring dina
Saniscara Kliwon,
bebantennya, kang inarep
sesayut pangambeyan, pras,
panyeneng, sodan, daksina,
blabaran, ketipat gong,
kelanan, canang burat wangi,
lenga wangi, pasudan,
rantasan, kumkuman sahapanyamblehan. Mwah
pangulapan, panegteg,
prayascita sakeng sang wiku
(And if (we) present
offerings for the
sounding sets (gamelan),
in the wuku of Krulut,
in Saturday Kliwon, the
offerings cover, the
main things are sesayut
pangambeyan... etc)
The Balinese calendar is a
little bit complicated for
foreigners. The Balinese
has at least two calender
systems. The first one isa calender which begins
from the first Kasa month,
then Karo=2, Katiga=3,
Kapat=4, Kalima=5,
Kanem=6, Kapitu=7,
Kawulu=8, Kasanga=9,
Kadasa=10, jyesta=11 and
Sadha = the 12th. The
First months usually falls
in July. This calender is
combined with the lunar
system from which they
have Purnamafull moon and
Tilemthe new moon day.
The number of the year is
taken from the Indian
Hindus Isaka year. Forexample the new year for
1921 Isaka year fell in
March 18, of 1999. And the
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New Year of 1922 Isaka
falls in April 4, of 2000.
The Isaka New year falls
the day after the Nyepi
Silence Day, while the
Nyepi day falls the day
after the new moon of the
concerned month. The
Balinese also have a wuku
calender. Ceremonies,
beside being held
according to the above
lunar system, is also
calculated through thiswuku system. One wuku is
one week or seven days.
There are 30 wukus or
weeks along one year
wuku calender from the
first wuku: Sinta up to
the 30th wuku: Watugunung,
that means 210 days. All
at once they also have
wewaran from the one day
week to the ten day week.
Discussing the above topic
on Tumpek, again it could
be explained that Tumpek
is Saturday Kliwon. Kliwon
is the fifth day of the
five day-week. TumpekLandep falls in the wuku
or the week - of Landep -
the second week of the 30
weeks -Tumpek Bubuh falls
in the wuku of Wariga -
the 7th week, Tumpek
Kuningan in the wuku of
Kuningan - the 12th week,
Tumpek Krulut in wuku
Krulut -17th week, Tumpek
Kandang in wuku Uye - the
22th and Tumpek Wayang
falls in the wuku of
Wayang - the 27th week.
On Tumpek Wayang day -
Saturday Kliwon of Wayang
week, which occurs every
210 days, wayang puppets,
and their gamelan
orchestra accompaniment
such as genders, as well
as masks and other
accoutrements, are blessed
to thank the God for his
creation, On Tumpek Wayangmany traditional shadow
puppeteers come to Manik
Dalang temple in Pemaron,
Singaraja, North Bali.
They ask for blessings and
guidance from Bhatara
Manik Dalang- the god
enshrined at the temple
who authorizes thePawayangan - the puppet
shadow art They ask for
blessings by performing
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their traditional shadow
plays in - turns during a
period of one week from
Sunday, Monday to Saturday
Kliwon of the traditional
Balinese Calendar along
the so called wuku wayang
week. Junior puppeteers in
particular believe that in
this temple they will get
taksu and nadi.
To find out about which
days are auspicious ones,
please look at the
traditional Balinese
Calendar for the year 1999
which you will always find
in any Balinese house.
Throughout the month of
June 1999 good days are on
3,14,16,20, and 21 and for
July, the6,7,9,15,16,18,20,25 & 29.
These days are considered
good days to start
learning dancing.
Meanwhile, July 19 is a
good day for making Barong
masks. The local people
call these auspicious days
Dewasa Ayu,
SACRED BOOKS OF ARTS
Besides auspicious days,
Balinese people also have
sacred books to guide them
in their professions. Tobe a farmer, for example,
the sacred book needed to
learn ones trade is
called Dharma Pamaculan.
To become a priest it is
the Weda Parikrama and
Kusuma Dewa, etc. To
become an artist and an
architect, and to know
where to erect a building,
what type of building and
how big to make the
building, you need to read
the Kosala-Kosali, Asta
Bumi. For gamelan
orchestra there are
Prakempa and Aji Gurnitato be a puppeteer, you
need to have a lot of
taksu, and to study the
sacred book called Dharma
Pawayangan. These sacred
books are written on palm
leaf manuscripts known
locally as lontar. In the
Dharma Pawayangan, forexample, there is guidance
for puppeteers, telling
them how to behave in
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their daily lives - when
leaving for a puppet
performance, for example,
they should meditate to
purify their minds. Then,
they must test their
breath by stopping one of
their nostrils to find out
from which nostril breath
is being taken in. If
based on this test the
right nostril proves to be
taking in more air than
the left, then thepuppeteer shall start to
step to the location of
the performance from his
house by using his right
leg first.
WHAT IS NADI?
What, then, are nadi and
kerauhan? And whats the
relationship between
kerauhan (entered by
spirits) and art or art
performance? Lets study
the following processes of
nadi through someexamples. But, first we
should also knows
literally that nadi is a
Balinese word meaning to
become, while kerauhan is
another verb that means to
be entered (by a spirit).
Nadi starts with the
spirit entering. However,
nadi can also be
associated with the level
of an artists mastery. In
the past, someone who
wanted to learn dancing
would begin by choosing a
good day to start learning
dancing according to theBalinese Calendar, as well
of course as the right
dancing teacher for him
that matched his body and
interest. This was decided
by the student and the
dancing teacher. When he
or she could dance well, a
self cleansing (mawinten)
process would be performed
so that the dancer could
surrender his or her holy
being both physically and
mentally to God Almighty.
At this juncture, a dancer
would always pray to God
so that he/she couldbecome a good dancer.
Balinese people called
this process the search
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wearing costumes - are
guided in front of certain
temple shrines (palinggih)
with offerings accompanied
with pasepan or incense
burning. The Sanghyang
Dedari song is then sung
by people following on
behind the dancers. When
the dancers start to move
or cry and then dance
after the gelungan or
crown has been put on,
this marks the beginningof being entered by the
holy spirits of Dedari
angels. This stage shows
that they are already nadi
and have become
Sanghyangs. According to
the dancers, when they
dance and move their
bodies so beautifully,
they are already
unconscious. Their dancing
is really as good as an
angels, even though the
young virgins are not yet
accomplished dancers.
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Sanghyang dance then
became the Cak or monkey
dance that is currently
often presented to
tourists in many parts of
Bali. This dance was
invented by Limbak, the
central dancer in the very
first Cak in Bali. He said
that the Sanghyang dance
used was derived from that
used at Petulu temple in
Bedulu village, and was
developed into the Cak
dance entertainment by an
expatriate artist who
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later settled in Ubud.
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VARIOUS EXAMPLE OF
NADI IN THE ARTS
The process of
sacralizing a thing iscalled masupati, for
example a keris, a
pratima, sesikepan or
a talisman. In this
process magical
characters or symbols
play important roles.
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The characters and
symbols are locally
known as rerajahan.
The rerajahan is a
kind of calligraphy.
Every sacred thing is
provided with such
characters and
symbols. If you enter
a Balinese house, you
will find a white
cloth about the sizeof a handkerchief and
covered in magic
Balinese characters
and symbols (ulap-
ulap), is placed above
the main entrance. The
function of the ulap-
ulap is to ensure the
safety of all living
within the house.
Similar characters and
symbols are also used
for the kajang (cloth
used to cover a
corpse). And forRangdas cloth, this
cloth is believed to
have magic power and
to be able to bring
fortune or in contrary
misfortune. Its hard
to imagine, but if
somebody is touched by
the cloth as Rangda
dances, he becomes
powerless as if he has
been hit by a black
magic spell. The
rerajahan can also be
used to protect a
house or to protect
somebody if used as a
belt talisman. Theprotective agent
(tumbal) for a house
shall be designed with
ocean and powerful
symbols. So, when a
thief tries to steal
anything from the
house, he will feel as
though he is at sea,
and will remain as
such until he is
caught red-handed.
NADI BELT
A nadi belt hasmystical properties
and consists of such
rare items as a
tigers tusk, a boars
tusk, a lock of human
hair, etc. These
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things are often nadi,
so that anybody using
the things bearing
mystical properties
can transform into
other beings according
to the belts
characteristics, In
the 1960s a public
service officer in
Denpasar went home
together with hisfriends after watching
a movie in Denpasar.
His house was in
Busung Yeh, so they
had to go through
Badung graveyard - the
biggest graveyard in
Bali - to get home.
But at that time such
a journey was scary,
not like nowadays.
The unmarried officer
stopped for a while in
the middle of the
graveyard, as he andhis friend were
walking to the west
and chatting. He took
the belt and put it
on. He felt that there
was something strange,
but he kept insisting
on putting it on.
Finally he shouted to
his friends who had
left him far behind:
Hey, wait for me. I
found a belt, He was
so surprised to see
his friends running
after he shouted. He
then was really scared
and running as fast ashe could to catch his
friends. He noticed
that his friends were
running faster and
faster, and then he
realized this might be
because of the belt
that he was wearing.
Then he stopped, took
it off and threw the
belt away as far as he
could. He continued
running towards his
friends who had
gathered in thevillage hall. Then,
his friends told him
that he was shouting
loudly like a goat:
mbeeeeek, mbeeeeee,
eeeeeek eeeeeekkk.
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Later, he realized
that he had been
transformed into a
goat. Thats why his
friends ran away from
him. In fact the belt
had already been nadi,
and had been thrown
away by black magic
practitioner who was
ngereh to practice
the power to becomeleak black magic
figure. Many such
stories still
circulate.
In the Calonarang
performance, there is
something very specialknown as inviting a
leak. A Rangda dancer
from Bangli who often
stars as Rangda in
Calonarang stories,
says that inviting
leak is a very
frightening moment foran audience. This part
of the show is
actually rarely
performed nowadays
particularly in
cities, but before in
almost every
Calonarang
performance, leaks
will be invited, both
in villages as well as
in cities, When Rangda
invites leak, you will
see fire balls flying
around, especially
above trees. Audiences
become very frightened
during theperformance. Moreover,
when they are on their
way home, they tend to
walk in groups, and
ladies will always be
accompanied by
gentlemen. Dancers who
invite leak are often
unconscious and are as
if possessed.
There are countless
examples of nadi. In
conclusion, the
relationship between
performance and nadi(or being entered by
spirits) is a
reciprocal one. A
dancer influenced by,
or even entered by a
spirit, means that the
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dancing has taksu and
has been well done or
nadi. Anybody watching
the dancing will be
amazed by what he or
she sees. Besides the
person being entered
by a spirit, he also
proceeds to dance
exceedingly well. A
professional dancer
cannot begin toimitate the movements
of one thus possessed.
An example is the
Sanghyang Dedari
dancers who move their
bodies in such a
beautiful way after
being entered by
spirits. In a normally
cognate state, there
is no way they will be
able to, or even want
to dance like this.
NADI IN OTHER KINDS OFART
Of course this is not
to say that other arts
dont have any
relationship with the
performing arts. Take
chant, for example, or
kidung kakawin, a
special form of song
used in many parts of
Bali to invite the
Bhatara to descend.
Also Kekawin Wahirat,
a Kalengengan type
chanting is heard in
certain villages in
North Bali, is a very
effective way tonedunang or to invite
the Ida Bhatara to
descend from heaven On
hearing the
specifically
melancholic strain
sung by a pamangku,
sutri or other
prakangges, the
tapakan Ida Bhatara
will be entered by
spirits very quickly
(kerauhan or
kalinggihan). The
atmosphere it createsis highly emotive,
leading people to
become dizzy and to
surrender themselves
completely to God.
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Another story tells
how Ida Bhatara to
descend- thus to enter
someone called the
tapakan often asks
for certain melody of
gamelan such as the
special geganjuran.
When this music is
heard coming from a
temple -anybody knows
that somebody mostcertainly become
possessed. The Ida
Bhatara will not be
satisfied, though,
until this certain
kind of music is
played. And sometime
the Bhatara will ask
at times for the
papendetan music or
him or her to dance.
In other places such
as in Tenganan,
Karangasem regency,
East Bali, a certain
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kind of music is de
rigeur, a kind that
again has a
melancholic air, and
which is the
accompaniment to
Mageret Pandan, a
ceremony performed
during a certain month
in the Bali Aga
village.
In painting, there are
people who, only when
they are entered by
spirits can they
paint. Otherwise there
are those who begin to
paint, and then enter
trance. This isunusual, but it can
happen. However in the
larger temples most
anybody can be entered
by a spirit, and the
spirits may ask for a
parba or painting with
a certain theme, to beput in a certain place
within the temple,
such as in the Piasan
hall, the Murdha hall,
or some other such
place. Otherwise the
Ida Bhatara spirits
might enter somebody
to ask for a certain
palawat or statue.
After being cleansed
and a pasupati
ceremony having been
performed, the statues
are put into position,
Some statues can even
bring fortune rain for
example. At thebeginning of this
century there was long
dry season in a
notoriously arid area,
where the local
community asked for
rain in a certain
temple, just as their
ancestors would. A
statue was put into
the seawater nearby,
and not long
afterwards there were
clouds to be seen in
the sky, followed bydrizzle, and finally
heavy rain. Most
amazing is the way the
water vapors were
derived from the
slogging statue. It
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was strange indeed and
defies logic, but it
happened. This means
that the statue
brought fortune and
had already been nadi.
A similar happening
was in Jembrana, at
the Bali Arts Festival
1999, when a group of
Wayang Wong from
Jembrana said thattheir tualen (servant)
mask in the shows
brought rain whenever
they are soaked in
water, Guess what kind
of weather they had
that day at the
festival. Thus is the
relationship between
nadi and being entered
by spirits in painting
and statue making.
THE SACRALIZATION
PROCESS LEADING TO
TAKSUAND NADl
The art performancesthat are parts of
ritual ceremonies are
often called Wali
dancing (wali meaning
offering or ceremony)
because the dances are
always performed in a
ritual ceremony and
they are considered as
sacred. Amongst the
dances classified as
wali are Rejang,
Sanghyang, Pendet,
Baris Gede, Sidha
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Karya mask dance, and
Wayang Lemah.
These performances are
considered sacred,including all of the
equipments used to
perform them, these
being also treated as
sacred things. As such
they need to go
through a series of
complicated ritual
ceremonies. These are
called masupati, the
aim of which is to
give spirit or magical
power to a thing so
that it has taksu.
Certain of thesesacred things will be
treated very carefully
indeed - even deified.
To recap, then,
masupati is a
sacralization process
for any sacred thing -including art objects,
in order to add taksu
to the object itself.
For example the
gelungan (crown) used
by a dancer shall be
pasupati-ed so that
the dancer can attract
a bigger and more
appreciative audience.
Among the things that
can be classed as
sacred, there are
keris daggers and
other weapons, for
which a pasupati
ceremony is always
performed every Tumpek
Landep day - Saturday
Kliwon in Landep week
according to the
Balinese calendar (or
once every 210 days).
Every respected family
in Bali has its ownsacred keris called
pajenengan, as well as
a lingga the symbol
of the ancestral gods
Bhataras such as
pratima andpralingga,
mask, or dancers
crown, and a belt thatcan protect the user
from being hurt, or a
talisman to protect a
person from pangleakan
(black magic) etc. The
reason for using these
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things is to make a
person powerful and
invulnerable to magic.
In the past masupati
wasperformed based on
a spiritual need and a
request made by a
person who wanted to
make a thing sacred.
There are specific
mantra that must be
spoken at a Pasupaticeremony by the leader
of the ceremony-
namely a priest or a
certain authorized
figure. These charm
is also considered
sacred and are not
allowed to be said by
any body in any place.
Pasupati is actually
derived from one of
the names of Shiva.
Pasupati is also a
powerful arrow given
to Arjuna by Shiva in
the Arjuna Wiwaha
story By saying the
pasupati prayer or by
conducting the
masupati ceremony, it
is expected that thesecan bring fortune.
Om Pasupati Bajra
Rudrayam, Agni raksasa
rupayam Purwa muka
desayam, Hyang Iswara
Dewayam, Sarwa satru
winasanam is anextract of a pasupati
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verse, and there are
still other Pasupati
charm varieties. The
charm enunciates one
by one the 9 weapons,
9 Gods, 9 colours from
the 9 wind directions.
In the East there is
the Bajra, white, with
Iswara; in the South
East is Dupa, pink
with Mahaeswara; inthe South is red, Gada
with Brahma; in the
South West, orange,
Mosala with Rudra; in
the West Mahadewa
holds a Nagapasa with
yellow as its colour;
in the North West
Sangkara holds a green
Angkus, in the North
Wisnu carries a black
Cakra; in the North
East Sambu has a blue
Trisula, and in the
middle is Shivaholding a colourful
Padma.
The Pasupati ceremony
is performed
differently according
to place, time and
conditions, as well as
the particular
believes of the local
community. There are
simple and complicated
ceremonies, depending
on the level of
ceremony, and the
thing being pasupati-
ed. If the ceremony is
only for a gelungan
(crown) and otherdancing costume
accoutrements, the
pasupati ceremony will
be a simple one.
However, if the
pasupati ceremony is
to sacralize a Rangda
or a Barong, the
ceremony will be more
complicated and
unique, and it will
attract the attention
of all members of the
community.
In the art of maskmaking, all masks can
be given a pasupati
ceremony. However,
there is one mask that
needs a special
pasupati ceremony: the
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Dalem Sidhakarya mask.
The masks appearance
with its fang-like,
protruding teeth, is
very frightening. This
mask is the final mask
presented at a Wali
Sidhakarya mask
performance. Balinese
Hindus believe that
the function of the
Sidhakarya mask is tolead a ceremony and to
make a ceremony
successful. Sidha
means to succeed and
karya to work. During
the climax of a large-
scale ceremony such as
the Pancawali Krama,
in March 1999, wali
dances were performed
including Rejang,
Baris Tombak, and
other baris dances:
Wayang Lemah and
Sidhakarya, as priestswere praying over the
offerings. Without a
mask dance, some
community members
consider that the
ceremony is
incomplete. Some even
consider that a
ceremony is not
complete without a
Sidhakarya mask
performance. In the
Balinese dancing
encyclopedia, the
Sidhakarya mask is
considered the most
important because it
symbolizes the WisnuMurti.
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In puppet shows, all
puppets used for a
performance are given
a pasupati ceremony
The leather puppets
that need a special
pasupati ceremony are
the Sanghyang Shiva,
Tualen, Tirtha and
Kayonan figures. These
puppets are given
special treatment
because of their
function, namely to
ask for tirtha (holy
water). The Shiva
puppet figure for
example is considered
to be Shiva by the
Mangku Dalang
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(puppeteer) when he
asks for holy water.