Among older generation in Bali the name of Calon Arang
is like arising deep horror of black magic that peeps
human dead body at the cemetery during the night time,
or radiating malicious disease to cause epidemic and
alike horrible human catastrophes. The practitioner
of such as powerful black magic master in Bali is associated
with a fairy figure of Calong Arang. But the name of
Calon Arang in Bali refers to a horrible black magic
inspired drama with the key figure of Rangda, a widow
who is considered the king of black magic. It is not
known the origin of the word " rangda ", many old writers
said to refer a widow as an infinitive word without
relating the word with the famous myth of Calong Arang.
The story about rangda in Bali having the same theme
of the ancient story about Calong Arang written
around 1462 in Yogyakarta, which manuscript was describing
a story during the reign of king Erlangga on 11th century.
It is probable that the word rangda derived and assimilated
from Calon Arang who lived in the village of Girah.
Normally in Javanese ancient language, when mentioning
a figure is associated with their place of living. Such
as this Calon Arang is often referred as Calon Arang
ing Girah meaning, Calon Arang from Girah. The assimilation
of words might happened like this : Calon Arang ing
Girah, and in the course of history only mentioned Arang
ing Dirah, and then in Bali experienced further assimilation
into Rangdeng Girah, or taken the first word only become
Rangda. What ever the difference of name between the
figure of rangda in Bali and the Calon Arang of Java,
the theme is the same.
The writer take the liberty to appoint the Javanese version of the story which was
researched and re-written by the famous cultural expert
Prof. Dr. Poerbatjaraka. It is written the story
of Calon Arang from a village of Girah, the story happened
at the kingdom of Erlangga of ancient Hindu kingdom
of Mataram, now Yogyakarta. The kingdom was flourishing
in 11th century, at the same time with the
king of Marakata in Bali, the sun of famous king Udayana
Warmadewa of Bali. During the reign of Erlangga
there was a widow at the village of Girah having a beautiful
daughter. Her daughter name is Ratna Manggali, who has
reached her adultery, but no one among youths from the
village and surrounding had the courage to approach
the virgin. This is because her mother is known to have
black magic knowledge, and practiced it maliciously,
and with her bad attitude causing many people were dead
even hatred was increasing among the people, yet this
is used as a temptation to her thirsty black magic need.
Her bad reputation at last reached the palace, and some
soldiers took initiative and asked permission to the
king to punish the widow. The soldiers headed to the
village of Girah and found her sleeping. One solder
drag her by her hairs, but one she was startled he glared
with 2 wild eyes emanating fire shooting and burnt the
soldier, the other took a hundred steps of flee but
again her blitz eye fires burnt them except one solder
survived the malicious black magic fur. This soldier
then reported his horrible experience with the widow
to the king, and made the king totally upset and run
out of reason to overcome the problem, and wondering
that the widow will take action for revenge. Calon
Arang knows that the palace involved in this scandalous
act of murder trial, and she become uncontrollably angry
and spread her magic malicious power causing great epidemic.
The king was really made under pressure, and asked the
priests to gather on the palace. The priests decided
to perform a ceremony to reveal god advise. At last
god Shiva gave an omen that there is a powerful priest
living at Batu Tulis, the Mpu Bharadah who can assist
the king in overcoming the problem. It is said that
this religious and learnt figure has the ability to
solve any problem in the kingdom not only relating to
religion and magic, but also social nature and politic.
He married twice, first wife they have a daughter named
Wedawati, who was left by her mother at very young age,
and always crying on her mother's tomb, and got no
god attention from her second mother. Since the child
was insisting to stay at her mother's cemetery the priest
decided to build his hermitage on the place, so he could
take care of his beloved daughter while still keep the
compassion with his new family of second wife.
At the other side, Calong Arang knowing the plan of
the palace appeared to be more and more uncontrollable,
she made his day to worship the god of the black magic,
Bhagawati Goddess ( in Bali : Durga Goddess, in Mahayana : Tara Goddess ). She always practices her black magic
by dancing at the cemetery together with her sister
Larung and his students Woksirsa and Mahisawadana.
They play the corps on the cemetery, and other dirty
frightening vision.
After they had the ritual at the cemetery then a victim
must be taken again. Normal people see this as unreasonable
death of human being, and giving more and more pressure,
feeling of great scare every time the day changed into
the night and at the dark places. The king sent one
of important person named Kanuluhan to meet the priest
which always welcome by Mpu Bharadah and in turn the
priest sent his student Bahula to the palace to follow
Kanuluhan. The priest proposed to the king that Bahula
will request Ratna Manggali for his wife. The king then
prepared a team to escort Bahula visiting the village
of Girah for the marriage request. The group was warmly
welcome by the widow and after the discussion she become
very happy, furthermore knowing that Bahula is the student
of Mpu Bharadah. She even did not care about the marriage
dowries, the most important that Bahula be the loyal
husband of her only daughter Ratna Manggali. After the
marriage, Bahula stay in Girah with his beloved wife
and having children. Yet every night he found his mother
in law going out and back late morning. This is strange,
and forced him to ask to his wife. Ratna Manggali then
followed his mother like an spy agent, and found
her mother with his students were making ceremony at
the cemetery, practicing black magic. She run back home
and reported to her husband. Knowing this Bahula expressed
his concern to his wife, and ask her to find the book
that is put on mother's room and which is on certain
days given special ritual. He showed the book to Mpu
Bharadah. The priest understood that why Calong Arang
practices the black magic as the book she reads is the
source of black magic. But according to the priest the
content of the book is good if it is dedicated to human
welfare, no science is bad, it is depend on the person
who understand the knowledge. If a person who study
this book does not have enough knowledge back ground
it will for sure a deviation can happened like Calon Arang.
Empu Bharadah then advised Bahula to back to Girah and
return the book, and the priest will follow. The priest
visited Girah in the hope to advise Calong Arang to
stop practicing this evil activities. The response of
the widow was in contradictory, as she feel that she
had been doing it and it will, unless the priest will
kill her and making her reaching the " Sorga " or heaven.
Since the priest feel that he with Calon Arang now as
a brother in law, he refused, and insisted her to change
her life style. This discussion become a high tension
debate and making the widow very angry. In her furriated
moment she show her talent of black magic, but with
the help of her 2 students the priest was undefeated.
Yet the priest did not have choice except to keep her
quiet, and cremated her as a normal unsin person. After
the cremation of Calon Arang her 2 students also surrendered
and become the follower of Mpu Bharadah as nun and priest.
This is the end of the story about the origin of leak
in Bali, which is a strong indication that a practice of Tantrayana thought born by,
Mahayana Buddhist. If we see deeper on above writing
one thing influenced the later writing in Bali, that
the advocating of the religious figures position during
ancient time. Some writing that having the same theme
that the religious peoples having important role in
the constellation of political condition. The power of
king in the past was unlimited, and even some king identified
herself as the direct manifestation of god, by imitating
the story of avatar of India that the king feel himself
as the avatar. Erlangga for example consider himself
as the manifestation of god Wishnu, yet the story of
Erlangga after the meeting with Mpu Bharadah he changes
himself into a hermitage which was affiliated to god
Shiwa. In Bali some ancient king through 1000 - 1343
AD also identified himself as the avatar of Wishnu.
This is probably the cause of the religious figures
feel uneasy with the attitude of the king, since if
it is translated further then the religious figures
be the servant of the king. The story about Danghyang
Dwijendra, Resi Markandeya in Bali can be considered
good example of of the effort, how some religious figures took writing medium to up grade themselves
at the front of a king and society. |