Wijaya Journal: Pengerebongan - the Wildest Temple Festival

INTRODUCTION

"Pengerobongan is Denpasar’s most famous temple festival. Worshipers from all over Denpasar, Barongs from Sanur and Tourist from all over the world hone in on Bali’s biggest trance spectacular and Super Cock Fight."
— Made Wijaya, Sunday Bali Post, May 20, 1979

"There is one festival which stands out amongst the myriad of temple festival and ceremonies that saturate the bi-annual Balinese calendar. The giant trance-in held at Pura Pengerebongan, Kesiman on the Sunday following Kuningan, is Denpasar’s answer to the magnificent ten day affairs of Gianyar’s State Temples, and the exquisite ritual and ceremony of exotic Karangasem, Bali’s easternmost ‘Kingdom’."
‘Dance and Drama in Bali,' Beryl deZoete and Walter Spies, 1983

MADE WIJAYA BLOG PENGEROBONGAN TEMPLE FESTIVAL

(Photographs by Made Wijaya)

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WijayaBlog/Bali Luwih report from Pengerebongan Temple, Petilan, Kesiman on September 7, 2008
(Photographs by Made Wijaya and Dewa Junior)

16 00 hours
Bali Luwih reporters head to site

[from left to right: Baron William Van Der Wall Bake (Public Relation), I Bebek (Pengandek Ni Limbur Bunglun), Dewa Junior (Documentation)]
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"Opinions on the origin of the word pengerobongan are wide and varied. The most popular suggestion is that it is an abbreviation from ngerehang barong – the recharging of the spiritual batteries of the Barong mythological beast."
— Made Wijaya, Sunday Bali Post, May 20, 1979

16 30 pm
Entering the temple together with Ratu Lanang Singi (Barong Singgi) followers; lots of devotees (pemedek) and there are a lot of Barongs and Rangdas.

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16.44 pm
The Gombrangs are ready in inner courtyard behind the shrine.

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1700 hours
The Gombrangs and devotees are praying together before the trance. After praying the pemangku priest is splashing holy water and it’s time for the Gombrangs to start the trance. With other pemedeks in trance, the atmosphere is very tense.

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"A group of priests surrounded by Barongs and Rangdas masks prayed in a cloud of sandalwood smoke under the gaze of the two standing Barong. A team of shirtless infants, followers of the Tohpati Barong, jumped into the pool of ‘recipients’ and as a cloud of Demons and spirits hovered over the temple the congregation of men prayed. A priest moved amongst them sprinkling holy water."
— Made Wijaya, Sunday Bali Post, May 20, 1979

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"Suddenly a mighty scream wrenched the tranquil air of the temple as fifty boys went into trance leaping into the air at the same instant. Kris knives were produced and held above the chaotic mass as the entranced were stripped of their shirts. With the Barong and Rangda they were led up the steps and outside into the Jaba Puri, realm of the ground spirits, to parade around the Wantilan Hall three times. Accompanied by many gamelans, Ngurak kris dances were performed – knives bending under the extraordinary strength of the possessed."
— Made Wijaya, Sunday Bali Post, May 20, 1979

“Now the first Rangda-bearer is in trance. Among shrieks and cries, waving krisses and long nailed fingers, the Rangda mask is put on. The Rangdas are led out shaking."
— Dance and Drama in Bali,' Beryl deZoete and Walter Spies, 1983

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"Men and boys leap with high shrill, defying each other, but attacking only themselves the Rangdas and Barongs pass up the steps and through the gate among streaming banners. Now the great procession of ‘exaltes’ moves round the booths which edge the wantilan (cockfighting place) in the outer court. The koel-koel towers and the boughs of the huge banyan-tree are full to the top of boys, and the high pales are filled with women watching. One Rangda after another dance forward with subterranean cries, as the mad cortege goes round and round."
— Dance and Drama in Bali,' Beryl deZoete and Walter Spies, 1983

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17 15 pm
All the trancee are being brought to the outer courtyard and circling 3 times while demonstrating ‘ngurek’

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17 30 pm
The Sadegs are together with Majapahit ‘warriors’, who are originally from Poleng Kesiman. They are in trance while waiting for the tranced Gombrangs and devotees entering the inner courtyard.

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"The reentry back into the temple is one of the all time great entrances. One by one writhing bodies held by teams of subduers shoot through the narrow doorway and topple – arms flailing, screaming bestial utterances – down the ramp. On their arrival back into the inner sanctum they are quickly exorcised with washes of holy water, then moved quietly back into the crowd. The Barongs and Rangdas tore back down the stairs, taking up their place of honour in the deities pavilion."
— Made Wijaya, Sunday Bali Post, May 20, 1979

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17 40 pm
The Sadegs are sitting in the Bale Piasan waiting for the Gombrangs

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18 10 pm
The Sadegs are going to see the pemedek Petilan doing the ngayah (circling the wantilan three times)

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18 20 pm
The Sadegs are in trance (they are being held by the pemedek in the gate), watching the devotees dong the ‘ngurek’ (stabbing the keris to their bodies). This symbolizes the war in Kesiman during the old times.

"The chequered priests then performed a brief ritual re-enacting a great battle of the past (during the reign of Cokorda Sakti Kesiman). According to legend, the famous chequered warriors, the Poleng Kesiman, once fought on in a battle with their intestines hanging out. The long chequered tail carried in the procession is the commemorative symbol of this abdominal feat and the ritual of the chequered priest a tribute to the bravery of the Kesiman warriors."
— Made Wijaya, Sunday Bali Post, May 20, 1979

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18 30 pm
The gamelan starts, and the Sadegs and the pemangku istri are dancing Rejang Dewa dance.

"To the gentle rhythms of Gambuh-like Legong Mat-Mat-an accompaniment the priests and priestesses danced a Mendet greeting dance to the gods - the priestesses crying in semi trance enacting a small play “nyayang ring susunan” related to the women’s work during the great battle. The priests grabbed for kris and on the steps of the pavilion performed yet another kris dance plunging their tortured bodies into the frangipani-ed beards of the Barong."

"With the sun setting the procession of Gods slowly wound out of the temple back to their respective ‘homes’."
— Made Wijaya, Sunday Bali Post, May 20, 1979

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