T

housands of people - devotees and tourists - flocked to the Pengerebongan Temple in Kesiman, East Denpasar, on Sunday afternoon to bear witness to a breathtaking ritual.

During the ritual, the local men stabbed themselves with kris daggers to display the enduring spiritual protection of the gods over the land and its people.

Known as Ngerebong, the amazing ritual takes place once every six months and falls eight day after the celebration of the Kuningan religious festival. Galungan and Kuningan are the Balinese Hinduism celebrations of the victory of Dharma (virtue) over Adharma (vice).

Local mythology has it that in the island's darkest period, Lord Indra led a heavenly army of gods and deities to save the island from the cruel rule of an atheistic and mighty king Mayadanawa (literally means the demon of illusion). After a prolonged and bloody battle, the gods crushed Mayadanawa and his army. The day of victory was later celebrated by the Balinese as Galungan.

The Ngerebong ritual also involved a host of gods descending upon the earth.

The Kesiman people believe that during Ngerebong, the gods gathered at the temple to display their magical powers to both humans and the spirits.

Such a display has two objectives; convincing their devotees their gods will always protect them from harm, as well as intimidating the evil spirits so they wouldn't disturb the region.

"It is said the word Ngerebong was derived from ngerehan and bengong. The first word refers to an action to summon a supernatural power and later, to make that power visible, while the second word refers to a state of being mesmerized," said a member of the Kesiman royal family, A.A. Sagung Mas Ruscitadewi.

In short, Ngerebong is a ritual in which the gods make a show of force to mesmerize both the friends and foes of Kesiman.

After the people of Kesiman offered their homage to the attending deities, the ascending tones of the gong ensemble marked the beginning of the Ngurek, the highlight of the rituals.

Sacred effigies and symbols of the gods, including the menacing Rangda and the bear-like Barong, were escorted into the temple's middle yard.

The presence of these effigies and the monotonously hypnotizing tones of the gong ensemble soon made several men fell into a trance.

They screamed and extended their hands as if trying to grab something. The ritual officials immediately distributed kris daggers to these men.

They screamed again and started stabbing themselves. Some stabbed the wavy dagger into their left chest, where their hearts were. Others thrust the steel knife into the soft spot below their Adam's apple.

A western female visitor gasped in terror. Yet, the kris drew no blood. Nobody was hurt in the ritual. "I felt something enter my head and suddenly I lost control of my body.