Bengkala, village touched by a god<\/p>\n
Jagadhita, Contributor, Buleleng, Bali<\/p>\n
They can neither speak nor hear, but the Balinese revere these
\npeople as they believe they are protected by the gods.<\/p>\n
They are 33 kolok (deaf and mute villagers) who form a
\ncommunity in Bengkala village, Kubutambahan district, Buleleng
\nregency. They have existed for many years. Why Bengkala,
\noutsiders may ask. But there is no scientific explanation for why
\nso many babies here are born deaf, despite some research that
\nhave been conducted in the area.<\/p>\n
The village has a population of some 3,000 people, who are
\nmostly farmers, and is located 250 meters above sea level, 17
\nkilometers from Singaraja town. There are two hamlets in
\nBengkala: Banjar Adat Bengkala Kajanan and Banjar Adat Bengkala
\nKelodan. Kelodan is also called Desa Kolok or Desa Bisu, which
\nliterally means the mute village.<\/p>\n
\"The deaf-mutes are treated no differently than anybody else.
\nThey have rights and obligations,\" said I Made Cincin, a village
\nofficial.<\/p>\n
He said that some of the deaf-mutes had been recruited as
\nhansip (civilian guards) or pecalang (traditional Balinese
\nsecurity guards).<\/p>\n
They are more disciplined than other guards, he stated. \"If we
\nask them to come to work at 7 a.m., they usually come earlier.
\nAnd they also have a good memory of the history of our village,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
He also claimed they could become very aggressive if they
\nwitnessed acts of unfairness.<\/p>\n
\"If someone cheats during a cock fight, the kolok will not
\nhesitate to hit him. If the kolok catch a thief, they might beat
\nhim up badly, because they don't hear his screams,\" he claimed.<\/p>\n
However, he said, the kolok were generally patient and loyal.
\n\"Even if someone pesters them, they don't react. Sometimes we tap
\nthem on the shoulder to attract their attention, they don't seem
\nto mind,\" he explained.<\/p>\n
They communicate in sign language, which many of the other
\nvillagers are also skilled in. Cincin said that deafness was not
\nhereditary and there was no reason to assume that a deaf baby
\nmust have deaf parents.<\/p>\n
Cincin said that many researchers had failed to explain why
\nthere were so many mute people in the village.<\/p>\n
People in Bengkala village believe that the kolok are
\nprotected by Bhatara Kolok (the god of mutes). The god is
\nbelieved to reside in a local graveyard, which is also a
\npelinggih (sacred area). Many residents have reported strange
\nevents in the graveyard.<\/p>\n
Dana, a deaf-mute, for example, said he had been working in a
\nfield not far from the graveyard when a friend approached. When
\nDana turned his head, the friend had disappeared.<\/p>\n
The next day, Dana met him again and asked why he had left
\nwithout saying anything. But his friend said he had never been in
\nthe field that evening as he had been at a cock fight.<\/p>\n
After the incident, Dana suddenly fell ill and could not be
\ncured. A balian (spiritual healer) told him to apologize to
\nBhatara Kolok because his family had never left an offering for
\nthe god. Dana got better after following the healer's advise.<\/p>\n
In another case, a woman was desperately unhappy as her babies
\nalways died shortly after birth. A balian told her husband,
\nWarta, to visit the graveyard at midnight and take home a sanggah
\n(woven bamboo leaves usually placed in graveyards with
\nofferings).<\/p>\n
Before night fell, Warta visited the graveyard and saw many
\nsanggah. But when he returned at midnight, he could
\nnot find any. Suddenly a friend of his, who is a deaf-mute,
\nappeared in the darkness to hand him a sanggah.<\/p>\n
That day, Warta visited his friend to thank him, but was
\nsurprised to learn that he had not been in the graveyard at
\nmidnight and certainly had not handed him a sanggah.<\/p>\n
Two months later, Warta's wife gave birth to a healthy baby.
\nAnother interesting aspect of this village is that the people
\nused to eat cat meat. Cincin said that as civet cats had eaten
\nthe resident's chickens, the people thought it was only fair to
\ntrap the civet cats and eat them -- which, as it turned out, were
\nquite tasty.<\/p>\n
One day, they found a domestic cat in a trap. The residents
\nate that too and declared it more delicious than the civet cats.<\/p>\n
Thus, on holidays such as Galungan and Nyepi the people ate
\ncats, although nowadays the tradition is not upheld as people can
\nafford to buy beef and fish.<\/p>",
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