Ni Luh Rara Tian Anyar Sari (1401305007)

Masindihan Tradition in Talepud Village

Quipped Ritual for Talepud Youth

There are a lot of unique traditions in Bali. The tradition exists based on Balinese social life,
customs, culture and Hindu religion. However, most of the traditions become a single unit and
interconnected with those elements.

In Talepud village, Tegallalang, there is a tradition of religious rituals called Masindihan still
preserved up to now. Masindihan derives from the word ‘sindih’ which means quip. Masindihan
ritual is performed by a group of young men and girls who quip each other using pantun
(rhymes) in the middle area of Puseh tample. This ritual is witnessed by the pamangku (priest) of
Khayangan Tiga tample, village official and Talepud villagers. It takes place every Sasih Kapitu
(around January and Fabruary), along with the ceremony at Puseh Talepud temple, between
17:00 pm to 20:00 pm.

It is not clear when this tradition is initiated in this bordering village of Kintamani, Bangli.
Bendesa Pakraman Talepud Nyoman Suyasa said, this tradition has been inherited from
generation to generation. ''No one knows when Taleput villagers start doing this tradition
because there is no evidence for it, '' he said.

Masindihan is started by the youth and the villagers with praying together at Puseh tample. After
prayers, the youth, pamangku (priest), village official and Talepud villagers are getting ready to
perform the ritual.

Masindihan is prepared by placing a group of young men and girls sat opposite each other. They
still dressed in their traditional cloth, sitting neatly and politely in natar (yard) of the temple. The
boys and the girls sit separately. They are separated about 20 meters apart and this area is used as
the stage. Pamangku and village official sit on the front, and hundreds of villager surround this
area. There is also gong sekaa (people playing Balinese traditional musical instrument) who
follow this procession and play some music before the main event.
The highlight of this ritual is when the boys addressed a quip pantun to the girls, and the girls
respond it with another pantun. Those pantun contains a very plural social criticism ranging from
daily life, work, unique and funny habits, school, until the eccentric things that happened during
the past year.

One example of pantun sung is ‘‘meli tabya di peken kaja, meli tomat aji keteng. Ada daha di
tempek kaja, konden tamat sube nganten’’. This pantun mean that there is a boy or girl in
Tempek Kaja who is merried before compliting their school. In the village there are two tempek
(groups of territories); Tempek Kaja and Tempek Klod. After the pantun is delivered, either by
the boys or girls, certainly followed by cheers from his or her group.

The cheers are accompanied by the sound of gamelan gong to create a festive atmosphere and
provoke laughter people who watch it. In one overnight ritual, masindihan is brought up to six
pantun for each group. This amount is fairly small compared to the length of time masindihan
until 05.00 pm. However, there are some traditional dances performed after two pantun is
delivered. This ritual is finish when the official said so. Further, all of them return to their homes.