Rangda

Rangda is the great opposing figure to Barong: a widow-witch with bulging eyes, long fangs, a lolling tongue and wild hair. Her name means widow in Old Javanese and Balinese. She is the queen of the leyak, the practitioners of black magic, and embodies destructive forces such as disease and disorder. Yet she is not simply a villain to be defeated, and her masks are treated with great reverence.

Her story is told in the Calonarang drama, based on a legend set in eleventh-century Java during the reign of King Airlangga. The widow Calon Arang, angered that no one would marry her daughter, unleashed plague on the kingdom until the sage Empu Bharada overcame her. Another tradition links Rangda to Mahendradatta, Airlangga's mother and the queen of Bali's King Udayana. Rangda is also associated with the goddess Durga in her fearsome aspect.

Consecrated Rangda masks are usually kept in the Pura Dalem, the village temple linked to death, and brought out for ceremonies. Many Balinese consider them among the most powerful objects in a village, and dancers wearing them may enter trance. In the Barong and kris dance, she drives followers to turn their blades on themselves until Barong's protection saves them. The point is balance: destructive power must be acknowledged and contained.