'Ngrebong', Balinese Hindu festival of trance
I Wayan Juniartha, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali
After a few minutes of silent prayer the old man opened his eyes and lurched backwards, letting out a muffled scream. His hands opened wide, moving erratically as if trying to grab something.
A young man standing next to him immediately handed him a wavy kris dagger. The old man stared menacingly into infinity, clenched the dagger's hilt tightly, then suddenly stabbed it into his own throat.
His body bent backward as he unsuccessfully attempted to drive the kris right through his neck. He then aimed at his left chest, towards his heart, and forcefully drove the kris into that point. The sharp metal failed to pierce even his thin white cotton shirt, let alone penetrate his flesh.
In various corners of the Pangrebongan temple, similar scenes were taking place, albeit with different levels of intensity. A young man ran wildly before stabbing the kris right into his forehead, then into the top of his head. In another corner, four men were carrying a man who had apparently drained himself of all energy while trying to stab his own abdomen.
The Balinese believe that these men are in the state of kerauhan (literally meaning "being visited by a spirit" or entranced), during which their bodies are being taken over by supernatural beings, for instance by warriors of the gods.
These mass-entrancements are a unique feature of the Ngrebong ritual, held once every 210 days at the Pangrebongan temple in the village of Kesiman, 5 kilometers east of downtown Denpasar.
Held precisely 10 days after the Hindu holiday of Kuningan, the Ngrebong ritual commences early in the morning, along with the arrival of numerous sacred Barong (lion-like figures usually representing the Lord Shiva) and Rangda (golden-haired and fanged figures usually representing Shiva's "wife", the Goddess Durgha) from various temples in Kesiman, Sanur, Abiankori, and Peraupan areas.
At the same time, various Pretima (the temple's sacred objects of worship, usually in the form of small statues made of valuable wood and decorated with gold and precious stones) are brought to the temple.
"These include pretima from Puri Kesiman, the royal house which traditionally rules this area. The Puri's pretima are in the forms of a dragon, a mythical bird garuda, a ganesha statue, and two traditional spears of Tombak Poleng," Mas Ruscitadewi of the Puri Kesiman said.
These sacred objects are later placed alongside the barong and rangda in the temple's inner court. After a joint prayer, the barong and rangda exit into the outer court, where they conduct a ritual of encircling the Wantilan open hall thrice. It is during this ritual that the mass-entrancement takes place.
"All of the sudden I felt something heavy descend upon my head. I lost my ability to speak and control my body immediately before everything went black. I do not know what happened next, as I regained consciousness several minutes later with a kris in my hand, feeling extremely exhausted," said Ngurah Lepo, describing his kerauhan experience.
"Usually nobody is even slightly wounded during this ritual. In the case of an injury happening, the wound is instantly healed after being sprinkled with holy water and rubbed with a flower from the trees that grow in the temple's inner court," he added.
According to Mas Ruscitadewi there are actually three different types of kerauhan taking place during Ngrebong. After the energetic and "violent" one is finished, several temple priests, or Pemangku, carrying a black and white checkered cloth will conduct a similar ritual of encircling the Wantilan.
"They walk solemnly, with tears flowing from their half-opened eyes. This is the second type of trance. The third is experienced by the chief of Pemangku, the Mangku Gede, who sits next to the central shrine in the inner court throughout the entire ritual. He will travel back and forth from the state of a silent, calm trance," Mas Ruscitadewi said.
The people of Kesiman believe that the purpose of the ritual is to maintain the spiritual balance of the area. However, an elderly man, who was well-versed in the ancient scriptures said that Ngrebong was actually a heavenly show-of-force. According to the old man, the word Ngrebong is derived from the words ngerehan (demonstrating one's magical power) and bengong (mesmerized).
"During the ritual, all spiritual protectors of Kesiman gather in the temple to demonstrate their extremely powerful supernatural abilities, consequently mesmerizing all the evil spirits by this demonstration so that they cancel any wicked plans they previously had," Mas Ruscitadewi said.