For such a society to work, a long
initiation period is needed, allowing its members to prepare for
their complex ritual duties and activities within the village
council. When children enter a youth club, between the ages of
6 and 8, they go through a "school of life" in which
the behavior required for participation in the krama desa is learned,
and where the manual skills and esoteric formulas need for rituals
can be practiced.
The three boys' associations of the village are named after the
location of their as assembly houses, located on three consecutive
terraces along the western street. There are also three girls'
clubs, with a strict and formal relationship concerning mutual
help exchange of gifts, offerings, meals and entire rituals existing
between them. A girl must be at least 7 years of age to join a
sekaha daha or girls club, whose meetings are held in the compounds
of retired village elders.
Some years ago, the girls would still bring their looms to the
meeting houses so they could practice weaving. In the 11t month
of the Tenganan year, they had to bring yarn and beast along to
their clubhouses to undergo instruction in the exceedingly complex
art of double ikat. Unfortunately, this custom so vital to the
preservation of the local textile craft has been abandoned for
several years.
The sacred geringsing cloths
Ritual clothing is an indispensable part of the sacred order of
Tenganan Pegringsing. The double ikat cloths known as geringsing
produced here rank among the masterwork of traditional textile
art, providing a further sign of the divinely-ordained exclusivity
of the society. The cloths are said to have directly inspired
by Batara Indra, the Creator who was once sitting in a tree enjoying
the beauty of the moon and stars. While contemplating the heavens,
he decided to teach the women of Tenganan the art of ikat patterning.
Since then, the community has obeyed a divine commandment to wear
kamben geringsing or double ikat cloths. In this way, the villagers
evince purity and the ability to perform rituals qualities, which
these clothes protect from harmful outside influences.
|
