Kuda Kepang & Barongan

I had a chance to witness the most fascinating, breath-taking, out of this world performance of kuda kepang.

Kuda Kepang is a horse trance dance from Jawa, Indonesia. It is said that it was created by the Wali Songo in spreading the religion of Islam in Indonesian island of Jawa for the dance dramatizes tales of holy wars won for Islam. The dancers are usually all men, they sits astride a mock horse and re-enact the battles according to the beat of percussion ensemble consisting of mainly drums, gongs, bonang and angklung. A dancer known as Danyang will take the lead by directing the other dancers using a whip. It is believed that the dance have strong links to the spirit world. The mock horse is said to harbour spirits which have to be appeased in a pre-dance ceremony.

Before the performance begins, the court is opened by a medicine man or tok bomoh by setting a fire incense or kemenyan and offering materials which mainly consist of coconut, banana, chicken eggs, perfume and others.

My cousin and her husband - a Malay wedding with Javanese influence

On November 11, my cousin tied a knot with her colleague at her house in Simpang Renggam, Johor. The theme is Javanese wedding, which I really fond of because I prefer traditional wedding than modern or English style that fast become popular these days. She wore a traditional Javanese wedding dress with a modern twist because the traditional Javanese dress shows a lot of skins, she wanted to avoid that because first and foremost we are Muslims. The groom was escorted by his relatives with dancer and performer of Seri Tanjung Kuda Kepang. Before the arrival, the guests are serves with performance of Barongan.

Barongan is closely related to Kuda Kepang, the instruments used are similar with the exception of angklung. Legend has it that the Barongan is a mystical creature which was once a man. The man turned into Barongan because a spell had been cast upon him by fairies whom he teased to amuse himself. The Barongan man was ordered to follow the Kuda Kepang forever which is why the Kuda Kepang dance is followed by a Barongan in a performance.

Before the groom get to enter the house and sit beside his bride, he has to get through a roadblock of men consists of the elderly. I believe that this act symbolizes that the groom is ready to overcome any obstacles that may come to protect his bride. It is also a form of entertainment to tease the groom before he can get his bride. Everyone get a good laugh out of it. Then he gets to sit and watch silat performances, a manly act signaling the groom and his escorts are brave enough and worthy to sit beside his bride at the throne.

The highlight of the show was the kuda kepang ritual which happen that night starting at 9. The ritual starts with a group of men do the kuda kepang dances for about one hour together with music. Later, as the music became louder and faster, so does the dance act which became faster and wilder until one of them was possessed and started dancing wildly and soon afterwards, more men were possessed as the smoke from kemenyan with a bit of scented oil spreads fast around the house.

The possessed men dances with their eyes closed, some in a circle of their own, some started disturbing the crowds, while others peel off the coconuts with their bare teeth, smashed and drink the water inside. A few went overboard and started ran amok, so there are a few older men who has more experienced in the ritual start controlling them by making a piercing sound of whips by bashing the whips on the ground. Kind of like you whip the horse to control them. The ritual will eventually ends when none are possessed and they will stop the kemenyan from emitting smoke and slow down the music. Some who have been revived by the older men, were possessed again and had to be revived. When they are revived, they will start vomiting and was themselves again but they are in a weak state.

I was unable to record a video of this fascinating yet scary ritual because it was dark and there are not enough light around the house since my cousin lives in a rural area, you can’t even get a good picture of the ritual even if you set it in night mode. Not many can experience this ritual firsthand, and I believe most experience it on television or the internet. Although there are many opinions towards this ritual in Islam perspectives, but they still keep doing it so that the tradition will never dies.