Tabanan, Rainbow over Ricefields

Ngerebek : A Unique Ritual in “Dalem Kahyangan Kedaton”

Pura Dalem Kahyangan Kedaton, located in Desa Kukuh (Marga Sub-District, Tabanan Regency, 21 km to the north of Denpasar City) is a unique temple which is of interest to both Balinese and overseas visitors. One of its specialties is the ‘Ngerebek’ procession held by devotees on the eve of the ‘odalan’ ceremony at the temple.

The devotees are all of the community living in the traditional village of ‘Desa Adat Kukuh’ in their role as ‘pengemong’ which means those responsible for maintaining the temple and making the ‘odalan’ a success, and ‘penyungsung’ which means those morally dutiful participants in the temple ceremony. The natural environment of the temple with its colony of monkeys and giant bats elevates the serene atmosphere of the religious event. Mangku Dita (100), a second-ranking priest, is in charge of the ritual ‘banten’ implements for the ‘odalan’ ceremony in the temple.
The 12.5 hectare-wide temple has six characteristic ‘pelinggih’ shrines in its inner space, while in its middle space there are pavilions for storing gamelan instruments, ‘bale gong’ and for meetings, ‘bale paruman’ complete with a kitchen - ‘pewaregan.’ There is an outer space reserved for public entertainment. Interesting for outsiders is the fact that there is no carving used to decorate the buildings of the temple and the community perform their prayers without using incense.
All preparations for the odalan ceremony itself, such as the service for space cleaning and the ‘Ngerebek’ procession (including the ‘mecaru’ rite), should be finished before sunset to open space for people to go three times around the temple anti-clockwise. In the meantime, the holy ‘Barong’ and giant ‘wake up’ as if willing to see the procession with its serene atmosphere conducted by ‘Baleganjur’ gamelan and ‘kulkul’ drum beats.
There is another procession known as ‘mepeed’ preceding the temple ritual. This traverses a distance of three kilometers en route from Banjar Lod Dalang to the temple site, with women bearing stacks of Balinese fruit and cakes called ‘gebogan.’ At the same time, there are other parades called Barong Ket, Barong Landung and Rangda (Giant) again with women carrying ‘gebogan.’
The ‘odalan’ ceremony in this temple takes place on ‘Anggara’ Kasih Wuku Medangsia day according to the traditional Balinese calendar, which is Tuesday, 8 July 2003. As well as Mangku Dita, there is another ‘pemangku’ priest entitled Mangku Kahyangan in Desa Adat Kukuh traditional village. He is under the coordination of the most senior Mangku Lingsir, who is in charge of managing the ’odalan’ for the spiritual success of the temple ceremony. (BTN 015)