Traditional Art of Barong & Keris Dance
- Melisandra Yunita

- Aug 22, 2019
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 21, 2023
A figure from Balinese mythology is called Barong.
In Balinese mythical beliefs, he is the monarch of the spirits, the head of the kind hosts, and Rangda's foe. The fourth brother's spirit child, Banas Pati Rajah, follows a child throughout life. Barong is animated by Banas Pati Rajah, a spirit. He is a guardian spirit who is frequently depicted by a lion. Traditional Balinese performances of his battle with Rangda are very well-liked. The Barong dance frequently depicts two monkeys in a picture.

The supernatural guardian of Balinese communities is called Barong.
In the never-ending conflict between good and evil, he stands in opposition to Rangda the witch, who is in charge of the spirits of darkness, and wears a spectacular fang-adorned mask and long mane. Barongs (of which there are numerous varieties, including barong ket, barong macan, and barong bangkal) go door to door (nglawang) during the Galungan Kuningan festival to purge old spheres of influence.
Similar to the kecak dance is the Barong and Kris dance.
A conflict between good and bad spirits is shown in the Barong and Kris dance. Barongs can take on a variety of shapes, but in this dance, the Barong Keket dance—the most revered of the Barongs—takes center stage. The Barong Keket is an odd creature that is portrayed by two individuals in the same way as a clown horse in a circus. It is half hairy dog and half lion. Rangda the magician is his rival.

Traditional traditions also focus on the conflict between Barong and Rangda, which typically occurs at the graveyard shrine. The tale of Calonarang, a Jirah widow who was enraged because she was unable to match her daughter Ratna Manggali with a suitable spouse, is the most well-known. She exacts her vengeance by spreading disaster on the kingdom of Daha since all suitable young men are afraid of her black sorcery. Erlangga, the monarch, made numerous attempts to punish him but in vain. All of the soldiers he deployed to demolish it were killed. Then Rangda made the decision to eliminate Daha.
He gathered all of his followers, and they traveled to Setra Gendrainayu graveyard at dusk to make sacrifices of dead animals to Durga, the goddess of death. Even though she tells the witch not to enter the city of Daha, Durga consents to the destruction. However, the witch disregards Durga's counsel, and the kingdom soon experiences grubug (plague), which causes towns to quickly turn into cemeteries with people passing away before they can even bury their dead. The smell was awful, and there were corpses lying around everywhere. Mpu Bharadah is the only one who is capable of vanquishing a witch. The king asked Bharadah to send one of his disciples, Bahula, to steal a magic weapon. Bahula feigned to beg Ratna Manggali's hand in marriage, and while the witch was distracted, the magic weapon was stolen.
By using Ratna Manggali's assistance, Bahula steals a magical weapon. He then gave his teacher Bharadah the stolen weapon. It turns out that the weapon was a document that Calonarang had used upside down and contained the secret to complete emancipation. Bharadah confronts the witch in Daha. He is vanquished with the aid of Barong. He begs to be freed from his curse and purified prior to being slain.

According to the legend, Erlangga's father chastised Rangda because he used black magic, and she was the mother of Erlangga, the King of Bali in the eleventh century. She enlisted monsters and leaks from the jungle to pursue Erlangga after becoming a widow. There is a struggle, but he and his army of dark magic are too powerful, so Erlangga is forced to call on Barong for assistance. A fight broke out when Barong arrived with Erlangga's warriors. All of Erlangga's soldiers wanted to commit suicide, and they all pointed their poisoned daggers at their own chests and bellies as a result of a spell done by Rangda. Their bodies were impervious to piercing kerises after Barong chanted a spell. Barong prevailed in the end, and Rangda escaped.

The Barong dance carries the risk of death or life-threatening injuries. According to legend, even with Barong's assistance, a weak warrior might not be able to resist Rangda's spell if it is too powerful. He might wound himself with his own dagger in the end. The Barong and Rangda masks are revered artifacts, so a priest must be present before they are removed in order to bless them by sprinkling them with holy water collected from Mount Agung and receiving offerings.

One of the typical Balinese artistic communities is the Barong dance. The Barong is a dance form that is shaped like a lion and represents virtue. The Barong dance depicts the conflict between Barong and Rangda, a representation of evil who appears to be a giant with a large dog. Both are depictions of human activity in daily life, which includes both good and evil behavior, or what the Balinese term Dharma and Adharma. Barong is animated by its inhabitants like a doll. Barong weighs a lot. Two large individuals who lift and manipulate the barong from the inside typically conduct this dance.
Probably the most well-known dance is barong. Additionally, it is a tale that depicts a dance and a conflict between good and evil. This dance is a great illustration of how Balinese mythology is acted out, fusing myth and history into one reality. Its status as a globally recognized dance makes it one among the Bali Tour locations that attracts travelers from different nationalities.
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