Description
Barong is the giant doll played by two people. Barong is also an art of Bali. It is the symbol of King or Emperor, which is called Banas Pati Raja. Banas means forest, Pati means life, Raja means King. The form of Barong is derived of combination of lion, tiger, and bull. And then, it is combined to be the form of Barong. It looked as if a scary creature. And on the body of Barong, it is decorated by accessories, such as crown which is overlaid by gold, and it is also decorated by glass, therefore it looked great like a King.
Barong also the thing that is sacred by Hindus in Bali, which has magical power or spirit of gods which sits in the Barong’s body. Barong is also ritualed on the certain days. It is belief of Hindus in Bali that Barong is the rescuer and protector from the dangerous threat. It purposes to make perfect the spiritual power on the Barong’s body. At the time the Barong dancing, Barong looked precious with esthetical moval, although it has scary performance. When the Barong is dancing, at the time the holy spirit of Barong give bless to Hindus in Bali. There are alo many kinds of Barong in Bali, which is become adoration of Hindus in Bali with different creature, such as: Barong macan (tiger), bangkal (pig), asu (dog), landung (giant human), and others. Now, the sacred Barong usually can be found regularly on the holidays in Bali, such as Galungan and Kuningan holidays.
Today, Barong is often used to interest tourists to visit Bali. By the performance of Barong dance, and followed by Balinese traditional music, when it is performed in certain place. However, the Barong which is performed to tourists, it is not sacred Barong, but it is made for performance specifically.
Conclusion
Barong is a sacred thing which it is as holy spirit in Hinduism, especially in Bali. Barong which is legacy of art and culture of ancestors. Besides, the sacred Barong, the people in Bali also use Barong as the art performance. This art performance which is so famous until foreign countries, so that there are so many tourists who come to Bali for looking at the performance of Barong dance directly. Therefore, we must maintain the culture which is one of Balinese people spirit.