English
Traditional Balinese house with beautiful garden and lovely surroundings. In front of a house stand 2 statues of Barong.
Barong is a creature and character in the mythology of Bali, Indonesia. He is the king of the spirits, leader of the hosts of good, and enemy of Rangda, the demon queen and mother of all spirit guarders in the mythological traditions of Bali. The battle between Barong and Rangda is featured in Barong dance to represent the eternal battle between good and evil.
Barong animal mask dance, together with sanghyang dance are considered native Balinese dances, predating Hindu influences. The native Indonesians of Austronesian heritage often has similar mask dances that represent either ancestral or natural spirits; an example is Dayak's Hudoq dance. The term barong derives from the local term bahruang, which today corresponds to Indonesian word beruang which means "bear". It refers to a good spirit, that took the form of an animal as the guardian of forest.
The lion is the popular one, as it comes from the Gianyar region, where Ubud (the home of tourist's Balinese dance ritual viewing) is located. Within the calon arang, the dance drama in which the Barong appears, the barong responds to Rangda's use of magic to control and kill her to restore balance. In traditional Barong dance performances, he is portrayed in his struggles against Rangda, it is the popular part of Balinese culture. The mythical creature would dance along the street to the calon arang dance. A priest would throw holy water at it.
Česky
Tradiční balijský dům s nádhernou zahradou a krásným okolím. Před domem stojí 2 sochy Baronga.
Barong je mytologická postava v hinduistickém náboženství na Bali, ostrově bohů, v Indonésii. Je to král duchů, vůdcem vojska dobra, nepřítel Rangdy v mytologických příbězích a také duch ochránce, který doprovází člověka po celý jeho život.
Na Bali má každý region svou vlastní formu Baronga, ochranného ducha, pro své lesy a pozemky, který je v každém formován po jiném zvířeti - kanec, tygr, drak, had nebo tradiční lev. Lev je nejpopulárnější a pochází z regionu Gianyar, kde se nachází mimo jiné i Ubud, místo nejčastějších představení tance Barong pro turisty. Během Calonarongu, tanečního drama, ve kterém Barong vystupuje, maří snahy Rangdy o ovládnutí světa použitím magie a jejím zabitím obnovuje rovnováhu mezi dobrými a zlými silami.