Objects

Bajang Papah

Bajang Papah from Lavani Pucangan’s Nelubulanin, Banjar, Buleleng Province, Bali, Indonesia, 2016. Photo credit: Putu Aditya Nugraha.

Bajang papah

Bajang papah is an effigy made of banana bark that serves to protect the infant Lavani Pucangan during her Nelubulanin ceremony. Before the Nelubulanin infants are considered divine, and are protected by 108 elemental forces called nyama bajang. During the ceremony, the baby is accompanied by one such protective spirit which is embodied in a banana bark decorated with quicklime and dressed with a traditional Balinese cloth and woven palm leaf decorations.

A priest sprinkles holy water on Lavani Pucangan to strengthen and protect her.

Otonan of Lavani Pucangan, Banjar, Buleleng Province, Bali, Indonesia, 2016. Photo credit: Putu Aditya Nugraha, Singaraja, Bali.

Tirta (Holy Water)

Balinese Hinduism is also known as agama tirta or the religion of holy water. Sacred water (tirta) is created when priests consecrate ordinary water by communing with the gods. Tirta is dispensed from ornamented silver or copper vessels stored in shrines and temples. At a first birthday or Otonan the priest sprinkles water on the child, its parents, and ritual paraphernalia to purify them. The mother repeatedly drinks holy water to maintain her life-giving capacity and the baby drinks holy water to replenish its spiritual energy.

Sitting in his father’s lap, Made Sentana celebrates his third birthday. Mepetik of Made Sentana, Pejeng, Gianyar Province, Bali, Indonesia, 2013. Photo credit: Ni Komang Darmini and Threads of Life.

Sekordi

After one Balinese year the child’s birthday is celebrated at the Otonan ceremony, and at each subsequent birthday rituals are reenacted to promote the harmony and purification of the soul. A Balinese child’s eighteen-month ceremony (or third birthday) is called Mepetik. In the village of Pejeng, the child is dressed in an auspicious checkered hip wrapper, called sekordi, that usually has a red or yellow background. The name sekordi is a contraction of suka and wredi, which means “gathering happiness”.