- Rangda
Rangda is the
demon queen of theleyak s inBali , according to traditionalBalinese mythology . Terrifying to behold, the child-eating Rangda leads an army of evilwitch es against the leader of the forces of good - Barong.It is suggested that Rangda may be derived from the
11th century Javan queenMahendradatta who was exiled by the king,Dharmodayana , for allegedly practising witchcraft against his second wife. The tale surrounding this is that she proceeded to take her revenge by killing off half the kingdom, which by then belonged to her and Dharmodayana's sonErlangga , with plague before being overcome by a holy man. The name Rangda means "widow ".Rangda is important in Balinese culture, and performances depicting her struggles with Barong or with Erlangga in that tale are popular
tourist attraction s as well as tradition. She is depicted as a mostly nude old woman, with long and unkempt hair, pendulous breasts, and claws. Her face is traditionally a horrifying fanged and goggle-eyedmask , with a long, protruding tongue.Bali is a
Hindu island, and it is suggested that Rangda may also be associated withDurga , the Hindu mother warrior goddess, andKali , the black mother goddess of destruction, transformation and protection in Hinduism. While Rangda is seen as fearsome and by many as the personification of evil, she is also nevertheless considered a protective force in certain parts of Bali, much like Kali is seen as a benevolent mother goddess in the Indian states ofWest Bengal ,Assam andKerala . The colors associated with her - white, black and red - are identical with those associated with Kali. Her iconography is similar to that of bothKali andChamunda , who are closely related.Further reading
* "Lions, Witches, and Happy Old Men: Some Parallels between Balinese and Japanese Ritual Masks"
* Margaret Coldiron. "Asian Theatre Journal : ATJ". Honolulu: Fall 2005.Vol.22, Iss. 2; pg. 227, 26 pgsExternal links
* [http://www.geocities.com/bali_info_4u/rangad_barong.htm Bali tourism information on Rangda and her stories]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
