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.

The story begins in ancient Java; in the legendary kingdoms of Kadiri and Majapahit where Javanese culture is regarded (by Javanese, Balinese and Western scholars alike) as having reached its apex. From these rich sources flowed the great literature, art and court rituals of Hindu Java, that were later transplanted to Bali.

One of the prime reasons for holding such rituals was to elevate Hindu-Javanese leaders to the status of god-like kings who were in contact with the divine forces of the cosmos. As these Javanese kingdoms expanded to take over Bali, they brought with them their art, literature and cosmology. At the same time, the Javanese also absorbed vital elements of Balinese culture, eventually spreading some of these throughout the archipelago and elsewhere in Southeast Asia.
The great Airlangga, descendant of Bali’s illustrious King Udayana, is said to have ascended the east Javanese throne and to have founded the powerful kingdom of Kadiri in the 11th century. Thus it was proper that his descendants would later install priests and warriors from Java to rule over Bali. Foremost among these was the son of a priest, Kresna Kapakisan, who became the first king of Gelgel (now in Klungkung Regency) in the mid-l5th century.

The transition to Gelgel from a previous court center at Samprangan (now in Gianyar Regency) was made by a cockfighting member of the Kapakisan dynasty, who became embroiled in a struggle for the throne and attempts to save the kingdom from the mismanagement of his elder brother, or so the account goes. There is little reason to doubt this version of events, yet there are huge gaps in the story of how power moved from Java to Gelgel in previous centuries, and the relation of the Kepakisan line to earlier kings appointed by the Javanese conquerors.