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Vague is the line that separates the
real from the spiritual in Bali. Here,
such blurred distinctions
are commonplace
C U L T U R E T R I P P I N G I N I N D O N E S I A
The end sees balance restored to the celestial order of things.
Neither good nor evil triumphs, as is the common theme in
Balinese plays. And as the audience applauds the conclusion
of yet another tourist show, I am mindful of a fact that many
in this foreign crowd are unaware of: that this story actually
happened just moments ago. Ridiculous as it seems, the
barong and the rangda weren’t just actors in elaborate suits.
It was the King of the Spirits and his demon-witch adversary
on stage, playing out the eternal struggle between darkness
and light.
Vague is the line that separates the real from the spiritual
in this part of Indonesia. The “Barong and Keris” show,
a staple of tour groups throughout the island, is a daily
spectacle that is both history and legend, a sacred ritual
and a means of livelihood. Indeed, here in Bali, such blurred
distinctions are commonplace. On this 563,300-hectare
island off the east coast of Java, tradition and modernity,
foreign and local, new and old mingle in surprising ways.
The island paradise
Such cultural adaptability has no doubt been a blessing to
this island’s natives, the Balinese. A bastion of Hinduism in a
Muslim-majority country, Bali has in fact attracted outsiders
for centuries. Its first mention by a Westerner was from
PHOTOS
LESTER LEDESMA
Clockwise from
top: The barong
and rangda play
out the eternal
struggle between
good and evil; the
barong protects
the men who try to
stab themselves; a
barong dance troupe
