Bali Travel News

The word sanghyang means “deity” and performers of the sacred Sanghyang dances are said to be possessed by specific deities who enable them to perform supernatural feats. Their role is an overfly exorcistic one — they assist in warding off pestilence and ridding the village of black magic.

Trance is induced through incense smoke and chanting by two groups of villagers — women who sing the praises of the gods and ask them to descend, and a chorus of men who imitate the gamelan using the word “cak” and other sounds.

There are many kinds of Sanghyang. In Sanghyang Dedari, two pre-pubescent girls (chosen through a “trance test”) are gradually put into trance, dressed in costumes very similiar to the Legong (many scholars feel that the Legong developed from this form).

They are then carried on palanquins or shoulders around the village, stopping at magically- charged spots such as crossroads, bridges and in front of the homes of people who can transform themselves into leyak or witches. After this, the sanghyangs lead the villagers back to a dancing arena at the temple or bale banjar, where, with eyes closed, they dance for up to four hours. Stories from the Legong repertoire or dramatic forms based on the Calonarang and Cupak are reenacted. In some villages, the sanghyang dedari execute the entire dance mounted on the shoulders of men, performing astounding acrobatic feats. This part of the ritual is accompanied by a complete gamelan group, who have been thoroughly trained and rehearsed.

In Sanghyang Jaran, a small number of men are put into trance, but their transition is much more violent — they fall, convulsed, to the ground and rush to grab hobby horses. uring the pre-trance chanting, coconut shells have been lit, leaving red hot coals. The trancers are said to be attracted by all forms of fire and onlookers are required not to smoke. The entranced dancers leap into the coals, prancing on top of them, picking up the hot pieces and bathing themselves in fire. The sanghyangs are accompanied only by a kecak chorus of chanting men. Both types of Sanghyang may be seen four times a week in Bona [ Gianyar ], where it is claimed that the performers are indeed possessed, albeit by lesser deities.

Balinese gamelan music is an intricate blend of sonorities, created in a densely patterned, contrapuntal web of sound. Enhanced by the tremolo effect of the paired tuning system, the music shifts and vibrates rapidly — some have compared it to the nightly choruses of crickets and frogs in the Balinese riceflelds.

Working in an oral tradition (no notation is used), musicians have evolved a complex language based on the concept of kotekan or interlocking parts. In this system, the intricate melodic figuration of the music is never played by a single musician, but is divided instead into two complementary parts (called sangsih and polos). When played together the two dovetail to form the composite figuration.

Aside from the sheer sonic complexity that kotekan patterning gives the music, it also allows the orchestra to play at dazzling tempos — enough to defy even the most nimble-fingered classical pianist. Adding to the contrapuntual richness of the music is the fact that several kinds of interlocking parts may be played simultaneously in the various families of the orchestra. All of these parts relate directly to a central or core melody (pokok) around which they are woven.

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