The Litany of the Resi Bhujangga

Abstract

The Balinese year consists of 210 days, and no treatise on Bali fails to mention the ñĕpi, the annual ‘keeping of silence’ and staying at home which the Balinese observe during the time when the sĕṅguhu or exorcist priests are conducting their ceremonies at the crossroads, where they invoke the evil spirits to assemble, so that they may be propitiated and sent on their way. This priest’s ritual has not, however, had much attention paid to it, though his co-officiating on important occasions has been brought to the foreground by Dr. J. L. Swellengrebel,¹ while Tyra de Kleen, in her book ‘Mudrās, the ritual hand-poses of the Buddha priests and the Shiva priests in Bali’ has furnished drawings of the cult insignia by which he is distinguished.² Much more is known about other Balinese priests: the pamaṅku, village or temple priest³ and the padanda, brahmin ‘high priest’ who belongs either to the Śaiva paksa (‘wing’)⁴ or to the Bauddha paksa, the latter constitute a small minority.⁵