Denpasar, In the City

I Wayan Turun :
‘’Lontar’’ Writer from Denpasar

This man, who was born in Denpasar in 1950 and lives in Banjar Kedaton, Kesiman Petilan Village, East Denpasar, is always busy. Besides being head of his household responsible for family needs and kelian gong at Banjar Kedaton who arranges stage performances, this Bali Museum employee, often called Wayan Turun, also writes lontar. “I usually write Balinese literary art each day. Whether in the form of lontar, poems of gending-gending Sekar Alit or Sekar Madya, and or epigraphy and purana,” said the father of 3 sons who has embraced these literary arts since 1971.

The husband of Ni Made Indrayani explains that he writes epigraphy or kekawin on the lontar leaf, not on paper as usual, using pengrupak as the writing tool and candlenut to make the writing clearer.
According to this alumnus of SMEP Denpasar in 1969, he has written more than 100 sheets of epigraphy. The people who order his work come from all over Bali. Besides writing on the lontar leaf, he also writes epigraphy on copper using tools like a tattoo machine. “I also participate in The Writer Team of Culture Department of Bali Province to write temple’s purana, Kuturan Tatwa and Kebo Iwayana studies,” he said.
When asked about the process of making epigraphy, Wayan Turun said that the first step is meeting the krama pura (temple members), then collecting the data and making a draft which is then approved by the krama pemaksan pura. After it is agreed, then it is written on the lontar or on the copper and then dipasupati (purified) and disungsung (worshiped) by krama (member). “But before I begin to write the process should start with offering banten daksina. When the work is finished there should also be banten (offering) that for the next is dilebar (spelling mantra),” said the man who obtained the “Upakerti” reward in undagi (reconstruction person) from the Mayor of Denpasar.
“I also act as organizer of a book, Sakancan Ulap-ulap that is about the pictures for pemelaspas and pepatran book that contains many examples of styles of traditional Balinese carving,” he added with a proud smile.
Besides writing on the lontar leaf, I Wayan Turun also produces pupuh poems. Pupuh is a Balinese song that is wrapped by pada lingsa. Each pupuh has a different pada lingsa. Now, he makes many kinds of pupuh, such as pupuh Sinom, Ginada, Pangkur, Semarandana, Ginanti, Demung, and pupuh Demung Kulang Kaling. In writing pupuh, Wayan Turun uses two languages - Latin, which is written on paper, and Balinese, written on the lontar leaf as well as paper. “I collect all of my work in the form of pupuh. There are numbers of special books that contain pupuh and each of the books consists of 80 to 100 pages,” he said.
He also usually writes geguritan, such as geguritan Manusa Yadnya used for the Manusa Yadnya ceremony, geguritan Dewa Yadnya for the Dewa Yadnya ceremony, geguritan Bhuta Kala for Mecaru ceremony, geguritan Swadarmaning Maurip used for education for teenagers, geguritan Selampah Laku that tells about the life story, and Kidung Dalang Pricek that is used on each odalan (ceremony celebration) in Pura Kedaton Kesiman. (Budarsana)