The art of Barong accompanying the parade of a bride and groom in Kemiren village, Glagah district, Banyuwangi, Wednesday (1/3). The philosophy of the barong which contains the message and belief of barong as a caster of deadly diseases makes this art live on among the people.
The barong (a mythological lion) is not just a part of the traditional art of the Osing people in Banyuwangi regency, East Java. The barong are also a symbol of how the Osing people lead their everyday lives. Barong continue to be brought to life and support the livelihood of the indigenous community.
The Kemiren village was crowded on Wednesday (1/3/2017) afternoon. The people were there to see the procession of an Osing bride and groom walking more than a kilometer from the village hall to the house of the bride’s family. Apart from the bride and groom, the traditional barong art also attracted the villagers.
The indigenous Osing people played the barong in every sacred ceremony, including thanksgiving rituals, marriage ceremonies and harvest celebrations. Barong are believed to be able to drive away bad luck.
Barong Sapu Jagad studio founder Sucipto, 52, said that the Barong Kemiren art form first emerged when a pagebluk plague hit the Kemiren village hundreds of years ago.
“People with the pagebluk disease will die quickly. You could get the disease in the morning and be dead in the afternoon,” Sucipto said.
Public fears spread widely. Many were hopeless after their family members caught the disease and died. Then, one day, Kemiren village elder Ki Buyut Cili attained a mystical message in a dream. He was requested to find a 60-centimeter-long piece of pulai wood and put it into a well.
Even after obeying the message, the pagebluk plague remained. Then, the elder got another message to carve the pulai wood into a mask. “As the story goes, when he was making the mask, a supernatural force guided Buyut Cili’s hands. Heads of a barong and a tiger were then formed from the wood. After the two masks were created, the pagebluk disease stopped spreading,” Sucipto said.
In gratitude, the barong and tiger masks were used in dances. The barong dance is usually performed in the Ider Bumi ceremony on the second day of Idul Fitri (the religious holiday after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadhan) and on either the first Monday or Friday in the Islamic month of Zulhijjah. Ider Bumi is a ritual to drive away diseases and all bad things in Kemiren.
Ancestral wisdom
There is an ancient wisdom passed down through generations in the barong art form. These teachings have today become a way of life for the Osing people in Kemiren. The color of barong, for instance, symbolizes prayers and hopes.
“Barong has colors of red, white, green, yellow and black. Red means courage and white means clarity in controlling one’s desires. Green means fertility, black means eternity and yellow means loyalty. These are the values that we in Kemiren hope to embody,” Sucipto said.
A barong, Sucipto continued, usually has its mouth open. This does not signify hunger. Instead, it signifies a readiness to find food for one’s children instead of for one’s own sustenance. The barong’s two wings signify the couple of a man and a woman.
Life values are also reflected in the barong’ form. Its mustache, called brengos in Javanese, signifies the message that a Kemiren person must not avoid other people’s questions – called mlengas-mlengos in Javanese. On its head, the barong has horns or sungut. This signifies that a Kemiren person must not be mbesengut (sullen) when accompanying guests.
Barong Kemiren is played by two dancers. One player in the back watches and follows the movement of the player in front. “The players in front must always remember that there is another player behind and that they should not move as they like. In life, we must not move as we like. We need to think about our children and grandchildren standing behind us,” Sucipto said.
According to him, these values are passed down through generations in line with the barong masks. Sucipto, for instance, is of the sixth generation of Kemiren people to play Barong Kemiren.
“The first generation was Mbah Cili and Mbah Sapuan, who passed the art down to Mbah Tompo, then to Mbah Samsuri, Pak Saleh, Pak Sapi’i and lastly to me. The barong head was inherited not through bloodline. New barong players are appointed based on supernatural factors,” Sucipto said.
Sucipto is the latest in the long line of Kemiren residents appointed to serve as barong players. The barong mask created by Mbah Buyut Cili hundreds of years ago is now well-maintained at his home.
On average, a generation of players have the duty to play barong for between 40 and 50 years. The age of the barong head inherited through generations is more than 200 years.
Having gone through various eras does not mean that the preservation of the Barong Kemiren is always easy. Inheritors of the barong art form must properly maintain the physical form and the values of the ancestral heritage. The barong mask need repairs several times throughout its history. This is reasonable as the mask is hundreds of years old and has been included in thousands of performances.
“Currently, it is not easy to find pulai wood, the main material for the barong head,” Sucipto said.
According to him, there are many barong mask makers nowadays. However, many of them do not use pulai wood as the main material.
Successor
Another real challenge is to maintain the local wisdom symbolized by the barong. In terms of artistry, Sucipto and the Kemiren people have continuously maintained the art form.
Fortunately, there is enthusiasm among the younger generation to preserve the art form. A majority of barong players are currently children and teenagers. “I have participated in a barong studio since I was in elementary school. I became interested after watching my friends performing with a barong costume. It looked so fun to play the barong. In Kemiren, you’re not cool unless you play the barong,” said Kemiren teenager Adhi Kurniawan, 17.
Adhi said that there were no special training for barong players. All players, including musicians and dancers, train by joining the barong studio.
It is this artistic wealth that serves as the locals’ livelihood these days. The barong art has become a unique attraction for tourists. Many await it on certain days. Barong Kemiren was born hundreds of years ago, but it continues to live today. It was not only a story of the past but also of present days and the future.
