The deer, like barong, a protective spirit, is an important symbol in Bali. It is externalized in the shape of a mask with four legs. Medjangan (med/angan) seluang means “the original deer.” “This can be recognized by a small sculpture of a deer’s head or by the stylization of antlers carved in wood.” Īll masks of animals such as tiger, wild boar, dog, cow, elephant and others in Bali can be called barong. The shrine for the deer-god Mendjangan Seluang, the Javanese masters of Bali, received special attention from noble people. Six different species of deer like the kidang, Cervus mantjac, and the manjangan, Cervus rufa, Rusa, sambar and atau menjangan exist. The manjangan saluang, situated at the western end of the kaja row of shrines, is the one shrine with the carving and antlers of a deer, dedicated to Mpu Kuturan, the great legendary priest, the high-priest from Java. Manjangan seluang, the seat of Batara Mas Pahit, is the shrine in which one always finds the head of a deer (with or without antlers), carved out of wood. Numerous deer inhabit the West Bali National Park, which also hosts Pura Agung Pulaki, an important shrine initiated by Nuranth, a prominent priest.
The deity of the Gunung Batur or Lake Batur is Dewi Danu, thought to be Gunung Agung's 'wife.' Gunung Agung and Gunung Batur/ Batukau are dedicated to the spirit of the mountains. The tallest of Bali’s volcanic mountains, Agung is the most sacred mountain, venerated as the throne of the sun deity. There is always a shrine including one dedicated to Mt. The small shrines are meant for daily worship, besides each family maintaining its own small temple. Menjangan is an old Javanese literary word for ‘deer.’ The Dutch called the island Hertenbeest, which means the same thing. Ĭemeteries in the rice fields and even in the beaches of Bali, called ‘the morning of the world,’ one can find thousands of places of worship. This uninhabited island, fringed with very beautiful mangroves, is conspicuous as the home to the rare Java deer and Bali white mynah. Bali Barat, Pulau Menjangan, is a group of 420 tiny islands just 8 kms off Bali's north coast. The Maospait shrine was dedicated to the totemic gods of the settlers from the Madjapahit.īarat National Park, located on the north western side of Bali, is by far the most popular part of Indonesia. My comparative data on village organization support the idea that the two villages may have a common historical origin.” īatara Mas Pahit is thought to be the one who brought the shrine for the god of Majapahit (manjangan saluwang) to Bali, occasionally also as the culture hero Mpu Kuturan. Even though this origin narrative does not comment on matters of ancestry, such a link is widely believed to exist. The deer offering may thus be a hint that the relationship to Batur is in part based on common descent. “Deer heads are a symbol commonly used in the origin temples of descent groups who claim a common ancestry.
Like the Americans, who traced their ancestry to the Pilgrim Fathers, the Balinese trace their ancestry to the once all-powerful empire of Ma(d)japahit, whose sacred emblem was the totemic deer head.
The ancient Hindu empire of Madjapahit dominated both peninsular and insular Southeast Asia, reaching up to Central Philippines. Two great human civilizations spilled beyond the Indus Valley and the Yangtze Valley. “The colonization of South and Southeast Asia may not start with the Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, French, and Americans. They believed that a new start in the New World was their only chance. Viewing it as un-godly, they moved from a bad to worse state. These people saw little chance of England becoming a country in which they wished to live. In 1620, one hundred Puritans boarded the ‘Mayflower,’ the ship in which the Pilgrim Fathers sailed from Plymouth to Massachusetts.
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