These ceremonial dances and dramas directly relate
to religious ceremonies by serving as an offering,
a prayer, or an exorcism of evil spirits. Presented
with the active participation of the pemangku
(the people's priest and caretaker of the
village temple), they are a dramatic form of contact
with the spiritual world, and this communicative
purpose runs parallel throughout a performance.
As
religious dances, they are usually held within
or near a temple. Pendet may be danced
whenever there is occasion to present an offering.
In the Sanqhyang, in which the dancers
enter trance prior to dancing, the ceremony begins
in the temple and a procession is formed to march
to the dance clearing nearby. Because of their
association with evil spirits, the Calon Arang
and Barong plays are generally held near the
temple of the dead and the graveyard, which are
thought to be favorite meeting places of witches
and their disciples.
The
masks of the Barong and Rangda also bear a spiritual
significance. Because of their relation to the
forces of magic and their power to exorcise evil
spirits, they are considered sakti, magically
powerful. Only certain carvers, no matter how
exquisite their work, are capable of fashioning
a new mask of this kind. A purification ceremony
with elaborate offerings is always held to initiate
a new Barong or Rangda mask. When they are not
being used in the play, the masks are kept in
a special pavilion within the temple, where they
are displayed amidst heaps of fiower and fruit
offerings during temple festivals
The
Rangda mask, capable of emitting dangerous vibrations,
is always kept covered by a white cloth as security
to contain its magic. The cloth is only removed
immediately before the drama, by the Rangda actor
as he enters the stage. Some masks considered extremely
sakti are over a hundred years old, and are
followed by large processions whenever they leave
the temple.
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