Sanghyang Dedari is a sacred dance which can be found Badung, Gianyar and Bangli regency. This sacred dance is used to ward the pestilence or plague which swept Bali when the fanged demon living on the little island of Nusa Penida comes to Bali. Two dancers are chosen from all the girls of the village for their psychic aptitudes by the temple priest, to receive the spirit of heavenly nymphs, Dedari Supraba and Tunjung Biru (Blue Lotus). At the death temple, the Sanghyang Dedari dancers in white skirts kneel before a brazier of smoking incense in front of the altar.
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During a trance ceremony, the priest makes offerings to the temple deity, requesting protection for the village. A chorus of women is seated in a circle around them, singing the Sanghyang song, which asks the celestial nymphs to descend from heaven and dance before the people through the girls’ bodies and incense is wafted about them.
Nadi; Trance in the Balinese Art;1999
The girls rock back and forth in a trance until they fall, and the women remove their white skirts, replace them with gilt one, place holy head-dresses with fresh frangipani flowers decorations on their heads and gently lift them to the men’s shoulders. Then the Sanghyangs are carried to another temple or tour the village to ward the pestilence. The Sanghyangs stand and dance a kind of legong style with their eyes closed as if they were in a dream on the shoulder of the carriers.
Nadi; Trance in the Balinese Art;1999
Though their eyes are shut, their movements are in perfect unison. The temperamental Sanghyangs may suddenly decide that the dance is over. Then they must be taken out of trance with more songs and offerings. They distribute the flower from their head-dresses as amulets and sprinkle the crowd with holy water. The ceremony last for two or three hours.
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