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Tumpek Kandang:
A Special Day for Cattle Breeders
Almost
everybody in Bali has several jobs to do
in the same period. Maybe a man is an artist,
but at the same time he is probably also
a farmer, government official or a person
busy rearing cattle. The latter may have
some ducks, pigs, cows or several chickens.
All these domestic animals are very useful
for the survival of the Balinese who firmly
keep their traditions and eagerly conduct
religious ceremonies in line with Hindu
teaching.
Every ceremony certainly needs meat as part
of the sesaji offering, depending on the
kind of ceremony and the level of ceremony
conducted. The higher the ceremony level,
the more animals would be needed to provide
an offering. For instance, a sacrificial
macaru ceremony of Panca Sata would make
use of five chickens, respectively having
feathers of black, white, reddish, white-and-black,
and mixed color.
Except for ceremonial needs, the domestic
animals are also butchered for families’
daily menu to cook according to their own
taste. For instance lawar chopped meats,
ares vegetables, satays roasted meat, serapah
Balinese special dish, urutan cuisine, etc.
Those people with no good and rightful understanding
of the Balinese tradition often ask a question
whether a ceremony conducted by sacrificing
animals does not contradict the ahimsa teachings,
forbidding the killing of living creatures.
Viewed simply, those questions seem to be
truthful but the Balinese look at it from
a broader viewpoint with respect to the
divine teaching of niskala, stipulating
that every animal proposed as sacred sacrifice
is to be awarded opportunity to gain a higher
level of life and to become a more perfect
being.
Similar is the case when common people in
a family butcher an animal for daily consumption,
he would recite a prayer in common words
ahead of butchering the beast, hoping that
the animal’s soul might gain a good
peaceful place in Heaven.
The sacred procession of the animal butchering
has often been branded as penyupatan, meaning
the returning of the beast to its place
of origin in order to gain a more perfect
level. The meaning of penyupatan has been
written in a wide-ranging description in
Widisatra palm-leafed lontar holy book.
So, animals play a very important role in
Bali’s community, mainly in the eyes
of the Balinese cattle breeders, resulting
in feelings of gratitude to God Almighty,
labeled as Sang Hyang Rare Angon, the Shepherd.
On the Tumpek Kandang Day the Balinese,
mainly those busy in rearing cattle, render
offerings to the Sang Hyang Rare Angon with
a prayer hoping that the beasts will grow
fat and healthy. Other people have also
labeled the day as Tumpek Uye, celebrated
every six months, this year on April 12,
according to the Balinese traditional calendar,
to pray for blessing by Sang Hyang Rare
Angon to guarantee the cattle safety.
Rich cattle breeders of course will make
a grand and complete offering, dedicated
to Sang Hyang Rare Angon Almighty. Cattle
stalls will be cleaned and decorated as
beautifully as possible, while the cattle
will be bathed and decorated with artistic
cloth around its neck or its back might
be beautified with colorful traditional
cloth. It has been noticed that Balinese
cattle owners practice a modern method of
rearing cattle in combination with the traditional
way of holding ceremony on the occasion
of the Tumpek Kandang Day. (BTN/*)
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