Travel Notes
Further south,
at about 30 km from the town, is the old site of Macan Putih
(white tiger), which is said to be the ancient seat of government
of the former kings of Blambangan, including the legendary Tawang
Alun and Minak Jingga.
From Banyuwangi we passed into flat, open country. Here, the
rice fields are everywhere decorated with a type of noisy whirring
windmill, set high up on a long bamboo pole. Known as ngoling,
these objects are not, as might be thought, bird scarers, but
are simply for enjoyment. In fact, we were told, regular ngoling
competitions are held to determine which one has the best sound.
One of the pleasures of driving through Java is the surprise
element. Entering a small, nondescript village, we suddenly heard
loud, blaring music and saw a large crowd of people assembled
by the side of the road. Some type of performance was obviously
in progress. We stopped to investigate. In this case it was a
traditional popular event known as jaran kepang, or simply jaranan,
the 'hobby horse' dance, which can be found throughout the island
in numerous forms.The essential element is a flat, painted horse,
usually made from plaited bamboo, which the dancer places between
his legs and 'rides'. The performance reaches its climax when
a trance state is induced in the dancer, usually by way of a
subtle change in the music. At this point anything can happen.
Typically, the performer starts behaving like a horse, rolling
in mud, galloping around, snorting and neighing, at which point
attendants keep a watchful eye on him to make sure that things
don't go completely out of control. This, in fact, occurred during
the performance which we witnessed. It began harmlessly enough
with two clownlike characters confronting each other and exchanging
jokes. "Now the music's changing", someone said, and
immediately the mood of the performers, as well as the crowd,
altered. One of the characters writhed in the dust while the
other glared at the onlookers, who had begun to taunt him. The
two dancers then began to beat each other with sticks, seemingly
to no ill effect, after which one of them ran amok and had to
be restrained forcibly.The enjoyment, of course, came from the
excitement of the unexpected, with the added spice of controlled
danger. It is not difficult to imagine how, in the past, these
types of performances held a religious significance, as they
still do today to some extent. Rather like the primitive shaman,
entering into a trance state meant contact with unseen forces
and the world of the supernatural. For the local people, trance
dancing and states of 'possession' are quite normal, every day
occurrences and the audience consisted of many young children,
as well as mothers carrying their babies; all good clean family
fun. We were to discover later that the leading performer, when
not running around in a wild trance state, was actually a school
teacher.
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