Driving to a wedding at Petang yesterday, I came across mejejauman procession of barongs and sacred topeng masks. Well it sort of washed over me and my travelling companions. The procession caught my eye coming up from a village lane—all coloured umbrellas and sashes and white clad celebrants with dark tan faces—AND WE FOLLOWED IT IN ASTATE OF COLOUR SHOCK into a temple with two courtyards each perfect clean shaven grass floors. Being a mountain temple there were lots of painted glass Wayang art as shrine elements and masses of ginchu and gold leaf decorative touches. It was noon and the sky was a blazing blue. The highlanders went through their piety paces with immaculate yet relaxed precision. Within minutes the barongs had been greeted in the front court and then 'enshrined' with their attendant umbrellas, then lined up along the temple’s inner wall.
