Perang Pandan - Balinese Traditions

Perang Pandan is specific to Tenganan village only. The word " perang pandan" is a two words noun in Indonesian language, This war dance in Tenganan village is called " makare-karean " This event is carried out during the ceremony of the temple called " Ngusaba " It is strange because this kind of ceremony is also known by the rest of Balinese, especially those living on lowland with rice irrigation system called " Ngusaba Nini " The basic idea of this ceremony is to request a good rice harvest. At lowland area this ceremony is not a regular one, but it is decided by the village elders with ritual leaders in a plenary meeting.

Perang Pandan is a regular ceremony based on Çaka year calendar and is organized in the village temple. While at lowland areas especially in Kabupaten Gianyar this is conducted for a ceremony called " Maleladan " ( a procession along the village main road toward the temple ). It is hard to understand who influenced whom in this case. Seeing from the name of the ceremony it must be an influence of lowland, since the rest of ceremonies and customary organization's terminologies


Tenganan is specific, and " Ngusaba " is belong to a mid-Balinese vocabulary ( ca. 14 to 16 century A.D.), an era when the Majapahit influence was becoming intensive. Çaka year is a lunar calendar created 78 years after Christian Era ( 78 Anno Domini ). Since this ceremony is based on Çaka year and Hindu-Java calendar, so it is hardly able to know the exact International Calendar date within which this ceremony will fall. We can only know the exact date around 6 months ahead of the date. While Hindu-Java calendar is consist of 210 days. Balinese use these two systems at the same time, and mixed it up. So you can find a ceremony coming every 210 days, and every 365 days