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Images: ‘Melasti’ - “A purification ritual for Pura Samuan Tiga”
Thousands of people devotedly participated in the Melasti purification ritual recently, joining the long procession from Pura Samuan Tiga temple in Bedulu to Masceti Beach in Gianyar
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Thousands of people devotedly participated in the Melasti purification ritual recently, joining the long procession from Pura Samuan Tiga temple in Bedulu to Masceti Beach in Gianyar.
The people gathered at the temple before dawn to start the ritual, which is conducted to cleanse the temple’s sacred paraphernalia, including the pratima (palanquin), the lion-shaped barong believed to guard the community and the demonic figure of Rangda.
The procession took around five hours, a walk of around 25 kilometers, from the significant and historical temple to the beach at Masceti.
The Melasti procession was part of a series of ceremonies preceding the Karya Agung Panca Wali Krama and Padudusan Agung grand ceremonies that will take place at Pura Samuan Tiga temple, located between Ubud and Tampak Siring palace.
Based the ancient lontar (palm leaf) manuscripts Tatwa Siwa Purana and Kutaca Kanda Dewa Purana, Pura Samuan Tiga was built over 1,000 years ago. Samuan in the temple’s name means meeting, while tiga means three, so the name is translated as literarily meaning the “Meeting of the Three”.
It was Mpu Kuturan who introduced the concept of Trimurti — the Hindu Trinity that embodies Brahma the creator, Wisnu the preserver and Siwa the destroyer.
The sage was perceived as a unifier, bringing together influential people of diverse sects and family lineages to adopt the Trimurti Hindu concept, which was a monumental leap in the life of Balinese Hinduism and its people in the early 11th century. The meeting he brought about also resulted in the establishment of the Desa Pakraman (customary villages) and the three temples, or Pura Kahyangan Tiga, in every customary village in Bali.
Each of the ceremonies held at Pura Samuan Tiga will serve as a strong reminder of the importance of the “Meeting of the Three” that has brought peace and harmony to the island of Bali.
