The witch has a contender for supremacy
in a fantastic animal, a mythical “lion" called Barong.
Because of an ancient feud with Rangda, he sides with human beings
to thwart her evil plans, and the Balinese say that without his
help humanity would be destroyed. While Rangda is female, the
magic of, the left,"" the Barong is the "right,"
the male. Rangda is the night, the darkness from which emanates
illness and death, the Barong is the sun, the light, medicine,
the antidote for evil.
Every community owns a set of the costumes and masks of both characters.
These masks have great power in themselves and are kept out of
sight in a special shed in the death temple of the village. They
are put away in a basket, wrapped a magic cloth that insulates
their evil vibrations, and are uncovered only when actually in
use, when the performer-medium is in a' trance and under the control
of a priest, and not before offerings have been made to prevent
harm to the participants. At, the feasts of the death temples
their masks are uncovered and exhibited in one of the shrines.
It is a good precaution to sprinkle these masks with holy water
when someone is sick in the village.
Like the Rangda, the Barong is treated with great respect and
the Balinese address him by titles such as Banaspati Radja,"
" Lord of the jungle," or as Djero" Gede', “The
Big One," rather than as Barong, which is only a generic
name for his sort of monster.
Despite his demoniac character, the Barong materializes in a trance
play in which be is made to act foolishly and to dance for the
amusement of the crowd. His costume consists of a great frame
covered with long hair, with a sagging back of golden' scales
set with little mirrors. A beautifully arched gold tail sticks
out of his rump and from it hang a square mirror, a bunch of peacock
feathers, and a cluster of little bells that jingle at every move.
Under a high gilt crown is his red mask, too small for his body,
with bulging eyes and snapping jaws. The power of the Barong is
concentrated in his beard, a tuft of human hair decorated with
flowers. The Barong is animated by two specially trained men who
form the front and hind quarters of the animal, the man in front
operating the mask with his hands.
In Pemecutan the Barong play began with a performance of djauk,
a group of boys wearing grinning white masks, who danced to the
delicate tunes of a legong orchestra called in this case bebarongan.
After the dance the two Barong performers went under the costume
that lay inanimate on two poles, the mask covered by a white cloth.
Like a circus prop-horse, the Barong danced, wiggling his hind
quarters, lying down, contracting and expanding like an accordion,
snapping his jaws, and in general behaving in a comic, rather
undignified manner for his awesome character. After his gay outburst
of animal spirits, he began a long dance, staring around as if
astounded by magic visions that filled the air. He was constantly
on the alert for invisible enemies, growing more and more alarmed,
clicking his teeth like castanets as the tempo of the music increased.
Firecrackers began to explode at the far end of the arena, startling
the Barong, and when the smoke cleared, the figure of Rangda appeared,
yelling curses at the Barong, who appeared humiliated by her insults.
But eventually he reacted and they rushed at each other, fighting
and rolling on the ground until the Barong was made to bite the
dust.
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