NGELAWANG BARONG DANCE

Bali has various traditions. There is also a tradition in Bali, namely the Balinese Ngelawang Tradition. This Ngelawang tradition is a ritual to reject reinforcements. This tradition is carried out by walking around the banjar or village while dancing the barong from house to house.

Ngelawang will usually involve a group of people, especially children to adults consisting of 8 to 15 people. From them there will be two people dancing while wearing a set of barong clothes. The form of barong that is usually used is barong bangkung. Barong bangkung is a barong that has a shape like a pig with black skin. They will carry the barong while accompanied by the sound of gamelan beats.

The spectators who watched later would also give alms or commonly called Punia. There is no set price for giving prizes, the audience will give as much money as they can. Punia is a form of reward and gratitude.

Barong itself is a form of embodiment of Sang Banas Pati Raja who can protect humans from plague and danger. So the barong bench will be danced and paraded around the village streets in order to ward off evil spirits. Apart from repelling reinforcements or expelling evil spirits, the ngelawang tradition itself is also a form of celebration of victory over evil.