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Sanghyang from Banjar Jangu
Sanghyang Riding the fire - Rachmat/shutterstock.com fromBanjar Jangu
A Ritual for Preventing Adversities
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“JARAN GADING LUAS NGALU,NGALU KEDAJAN BUKIT TAWOR TABU BUAHEE MUDAH PATPAT SATAK MAIMBUH BALU AKUTUS, BALU TIWAS NGELAH GELEBEG CENIK MISI DANGGUL JAGUNG JAGUNG KESELANA ROROBAN TEREJAK MEONG KRENCANG-KRENCING NYEREGSEG NEREJAK GENI.”
The lyrics above are sung to accompany a man wearing jaran (horse) costume who destroys a pile of coconut husks being burned in the middle of the field. Yes, the
man is bringing Sanghyang Jaran Gading at a piodalan event that is being held by the people of Banjar Jangu, Duda Village, Selat District, Karangasem Regency.
Sanghyang Jaran Gading is one type of Sanghyang which is included in the genre of traditional Balinese dance which
consists of three genres, namely wali dance, bebali dance and balih-balihan dance. All three have
been established as the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity at the 10th session in Windhoek, Namibia in 2015.
The establishment of the
Three Genres of Balinese
Traditional Dance reignites the enthusiasm of the
people of Banjar Jangu,
Duda Village, Selat Karangasem District in reviving tradition by bringing sanghyang in religious ceremonies that have been suspended for some time.
Sanghyang dance itself in the repertoire of the dance world in Bali is in the ancient dance group (Ancient Dance) because the Sanghyang dance contains elements of magic (spirited), animsm (all soul) and demonology (keraksaaan) and is associated with religious rituals. This puts the Sanghyang dance in a very important position in Balinese life.
Sanghyang dance is thought to have originated several centuries ago when Banjar Jangu was hit by a disaster and a big flood. Not only that, all types of plants in the banjar were also attacked by pests. This condition is very influential on the community, most of whom depend on agriculture and plantations for their livelihoods.
To stop the pest attack, the residents perform the mecaru ceremony. The Mecaru ceremony can also be called Butha Yadnya, a ceremony to maintain harmonious relations between humans and nature. caru itself means beautiful or
harmonious (book of Samhita Swara). The local community hopes that by holding the mecaru ceremony, the bhutakala will no longer disturb their land. At first the mecaru ceremony was held in a simple manner, but in the end the mecaru ceremony was held on a large scale.
In the afternoon after the mecaru ceremony, a tek-tek prus ceremony is held, namely the ceremony of presenting ebatan with taro leaves as a base in front
of the house, followed by circling the corners of the yard or banjar by banging bamboo accompanied by spurting kesuna jangu, oil and betel. The people of Jangu believe that during the tek-tek prus ceremony some people will faint when they see the bhutakala in the form of horses, snakes, pigs, monkeys and other forms.
After waking up from fainting, these people will imitate the behavior of the bhutakala, and then the residents symbolically carry out banishment. So, this story is believed to be the origin of Sanghyang in Banjar Jangu.
Fading
However, due to lack of regeneration and negligence of sanghyang accompanying songs, the performance of sanghyang in Banjar Jangu which was originally a mandatory ritual has faded.
This fading occurred in the 1980s as a result of the absence of performance locations, many of the younger generation who migrated, and many of the old tradition performers passed away so that knowledge inheritance; especially the gending sanghyang did not take place. In fact, Sanghyang Banjar Jangu had a chance to perform at the prestigious Bali Arts Festival (1988).
Data searching related to sanghyang Banjar Jangu began in 2016 with research conducted by the Bali Cultural Values Conservation Center (BPNB Bali Prov – current name). One of the backgrounds of this research is the establishment
of Three Traditional Balinese Genres
as Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
From this research, it was revealed that in a period of 15 years, at first, there were 18 types of sanghyang in Banjar Jangu, and only 17 types of sanghyang were left. Of the 16 types of sanghyang, only 8 types of sanghyang could be reconstructed and the rest could not be reconstructed due to loss of knowledge of the songs that accompany the sanghyang.
The seventeen types of Sanghyang are divided into seven Sanghyang with human medium and ten Sanghyang with object medium. Sanghyang with human medium includes:
Before started
- Harry Surya Wu
1. Sanghyang Dedari
2. Sanghyang Bojog
3. Sanghyang Kerek
4. Sanghyang Celeng
5. Sanghyang Memedi
6. Sanghyang Tutup
7. Sanghyang Jaran Gading
Sanghyang with object medium includes:
1. Sanghyang Lelipi
2. Sanghyang Sri Putut
3. Sanghyang Kuluk
4. Sanghyang Teter
5. Sanghyang Capah
6. Sanghyang Sampat
7. Sanghyang Sembe
8. Sanghyang Lesung
9. Sanghyang Dongkang
10.Sanghyang Sele Perahu
Sanghyang Banjar Jangu is usually performed at night in March (Sasih Kesanga) or in the event of an adversity. The Sanghyang performance begins with preparations made by the Sanghyang dancers; self-cleaning, healthy physical condition and to support the aesthetic side, dancers are made up as if Sanghyang is going to perforn. Sanghyang performances are always accompanied by songs from this group of singers which consists of 10 to 15 people who are called gendhing artisans (sekeha Tandak). The offerings in each Sanghyang performance are canang raka, canang sari, saagan and daksina. What is unique about the Sanghyang dance is that this dance is performed in the courtyard of the temple and has a magical content in the form of a trance. Therefore, in its performance, this dance really takes into account the composition of space and the cardinal directions. Dancers and audiences believe in the connection with the location of the
performance, namely in the temple courtyard, to the east of the temple courtyard which is a sacred area and where an altar is built.
People believe that the north direction is the head in the composition of the performance room. This direction is believed to be a place of the spirits which
Possessing – Harry Surya Wu
Sanghyang Memedi – Harry Surya Wu
are invited to dance. The composition of the space, the location of the altar or the dancers are interrelated for
the success of the performance.
Sanghyang Banjar Jangu is distinguished from other Sanghyang based on the medium used, namely the human medium and the object medium. The object medium which is used includes potato trees, cassava trees, reeds, palm trees that are still young, and coral trees. Sanghyang Medium must be obtained through a special abstinence called piit / pingit or acted with attitudes and behaviors that are kept secret so that other people are not allowed to know.
Sacredness
The sacredness of the Sanghyang performance is seen at the time of ngukup (smoking) which is performed by the Sanghyang medium in front of the altar which is equipped with offerings and incense sticks. Some types of Sanghyang use two sacred incense sticks because they are part of the concentration for inviting spirits.
When ngukup (smoking) is carried out, the dancer is in a bent position, while the object medium is placed on the incense stick with a certain distance. The dancer closes his/her
eyes to concentrate while pleading for the desired spirit to enter him/her. This process is accompanied by singing in a certain rhythm and with simple verse. This song is very decisive because if the verse is not complete then the trance process will not be achieved.
The sign of a Sanghyang dancer who has been possessed by a spirit (kerawuhan) is when the dancer falls. After that, the dancer gets up to dance and behaves according to the invited spirit. Dancers who are dancing in a trance state are called menadi. Meanwhile,
the object medium becomes possessed when the object moves, imitating the movement of living things.
The duration of the dance cannot be
determined and depends on the mental endurance of the dancer to hold the spirit in his/her body and depends on his/her obedience for not to violate ritual taboos.
However, if the dance lasts long enough, then to wake the dancer from kerawuhan is enough by splashing the holy water.
Nevertheless, not all Sanghyang dances can be stopped with a splash of holy water, such as the Sanghyang Dedari dance. The dance can only be stopped if the spirit that enters the body of the dancer wants to stop. Unlike the Sanghyang Bojog dance, to stop it, it takes several strong people to hold the dancers who have finished performing the sanghyang when they are about to be splashed with holy water. (I Putu Putra Kusuma Yudha/Dwi
