Bali – Seeking Harmony

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Balinese in the village of Kesiman participate in a “Pengerebongan” ritual, held on the eight day of the Kuningan festival. Pengerebongan is a Hindu ritual which seeks to preserve harmony in society and also between people and the natural world.

The ritual beings with a prayer ceremony to persuade the gods and goddesses to descend to earth. As a sign of the presence of spiritual beings, many of the priests and pepatih (warriors) enter a state of trance at the end of the prayer.

One of the most awaited sessions of the ritual is called ngurek, a symbolic act of self-sacrifice. This is when some of the tranced pepatih stab themselves with a kris, a traditional blade. In the Kesiman village, the pepatih uses a sacred kris called Luk Kesiman. Despite its apparent violent nature, no blood is spilled during the ngurek.