Ritual Shows Bali`s Pluralist Culture

Denpasar, Bali - I Komang Satria Wibawa, 24, tried his best to contain the spine-chilling sensation that swept over his body as the Undagi filed his teeth with an iron tool. The tool produced a scary sound as it made contact with Satria`s teeth.

Satria Wibawa or Bowo was undergoing the Matatah (tooth-filing ritual), one of the most important rite of passages for Balinese people.

Matatah signifies an entrance into adulthood.

By filing the participant`s teeth, the Undagi, who is usually a respected elder in the traditional community, symbolically destroys the participant`s negative desires, including greed and lust. On that bright morning, Bowo underwent the ritual alongside his brothers and sister.

The unique thing about the ritual was the fact that Bowo and his sister, Ni Ketut Indrawati Sumartini Eka Putri, are both Muslims, while their elder brothers I Putu Eka Indra Putra and I Made Yanuarta Dwi Putra Yasa are Hindus. The Matatah itself is a ritual that is thick with Balinese and Hindu nuances and symbolism.

Yet, the siblings, members of their extended families and even the invited guests from the local community of the predominantly Hindu Sangketan village in Tabanan regency, seemed unperturbed by the fact that two Muslims were participating in a ritual so closely associated with Balinese Hinduism.

“In this context, religion has became less important, has it not?” Bowo said as he observed his relatives, Muslims and Hindus, who flocked around him.

Bowo and his siblings grew up in Banyuwangi, East Java.

They spent their childhood playing with the local kids and learning the Koran with them. Only after their senior high school years did they choose the religion they would adhere to.

Bowo and his younger sisters chose Islam, while Indra Putra and Yanuarta chose Balinese Hinduism.

“I chose Islam on my own accord. Our parents did not interfere with our choices,” Bowo recalled.

For many, such religious differences are more than enough to split a family apart. In Bowo`s case, the differences have only enriched the family`s spiritual experience. They still all live in one house.

“We get a more diverse spiritual knowledge and we learn firsthand about the beauty of religious harmony and tolerance,” he stressed.

Bowo revealed how during the fasting month of Ramadhan it was his Hindu brother, Yanuarta, who regularly woke him up early in the morning for the pre-dawn meal.

“And I have always enjoyed the time when my brother presents a canang (a simple flower offering) during his evening prayer at a small Hindu shrine at our house,” he said.

Hindu high priest Ida Pandita Nabe Sri Bhagawan Dwija Warsa Nawa Sandhi said that having a non-Hindu participating in the Hindu rituals was not a transgression of any kind. Luh De Suriyani

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com
Photo: http://blog.baliwww.com

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