Sacred Keris Dagger Danceat Sengkidu Village

If you see men in trance along the Sengkidu Village, Karangasem (60 km from Denpasar), it means that you see a part of the ritual ceremony named Usaba Sambah that is centered at Puseh Desa temple on that village. The Usaba Sambah is held annually starting at Purnamaning Kalima (full moon on the 5th month of Balinese Calendar), which is this year on 6 – 9 November.
The ceremony aims to respect and giving thanks to the God or Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa. The ceremony presents the harvest products of the village that are placed on a shrine named Sanghyang Sambah. The shrine is a small building made of stalks and leaves of palm and coconut trees. Above of the Sanghyang Sambah the harvest products, like crops, fruit and dadengkluk (meat of buffalo) are placed.
The ceremony starts by materuna and madeha rituals that are held for the children who have grown-up. The ceremony is lead by a priest and by the leader of the village. In addition on 7 – 9 November at 16.00 a sacred keris danger named daratan is performed and this is very interesting to see.
The dancers are adult men called wewalen, either they are coming from Sengkidu village or the other villages like Pasedahan, Nyuhtebel, Bukit Kangin and Mendira.
When the dancers are in trance, they will run to the street and go to the Puseh temple. In the temple a number of people are ready to hold the dancers who are in trance, they will re-arrange their costume (the costume like a large white skirt and yellow or black long wide shawl) and give the dancer a sharp Keris danger. After the preparation the dancer will finish the daratan dancing with their keris danger and stab his chest by the dagger.
The gamelan song follows the ritual and the dancer become aggressive, while stabbing his weapon into the body. Sometime the dancers will fight each other. Both of the dancers come face to face, and alternately they will stab keris to the chest of his opposite. Sometime the blood will be watering into their body. According to the wewalen, all of this is done as an obligation and a good chance to present something without any secret purpose to take profit to the God.
The last day of the Usaba Sambah (9/11), during the sunset, the ngalebar ritual will be held. This ritual aims to destroy the shrine of Sanghyang Sambah as a lively program and also as the end of the ceremony. The enthusiastic people will join the ritual and the following tabuh bleganjur, the Sanghyang Sambah that contains many kind harvest products, which will be pulled together into the yard and on that occasion the people will grab each other to take the harvest product. (BTN/tar)