If you enter a Balinese building, whether it’s a house, a villa or a shop, you’re almost sure to find at least one plangkiran. These are miniature shrines, used to hold offerings, earthenware jugs and incense sticks. A plangkiran in fact may take the place of a shrine in its absence. Plangkiran are always fitted high on the wall, hung on nails or screws. They are made from wood and are about half a metre wide and 20cm deep, with low sides, simply carved and painted normally in red or gold paint. More elaborate plangkiran are carved. Often they will be decorated with yellow or white material, indicating purity. They face outwards from the wall and there may be a slit where people can slide in incense sticks when they make offerings. The offerings are placed in the tray part within the box and after a few days there may be quite a pile of coconut leaf boxes (canang sari) and flowers. Earthenware water vessels, known as carat-coblong, are also kept on the plangkiran to symbolize purity. This water is normally changed every time there is a large ceremony.
Plangkiran are sold in the markets and also at small shops which sell religious paraphernalia. Once the plangkiran is taken home and first hung on the wall, it is christened by making an offering called a daksina, which is a ripe coconut placed in a kind of a basket weaved from palm leaves. Balinese believe that once a plangkiran is christened, the gods are invited to “sit” (melinggih) on the miniature throne. Only then may the plangkiran serve a spiritual or religious function. Normally, plangkiran serve only as offering holders, however in those places without formal shrines, worshippers may pray in front of a plangkiran. On special religious days such as Galungan or Kuningan, the plangkiran will be decorated with coconut leaves carved into shapes (lamak, gantungan, etc) and flowers with long stems.
Copyright@ Kulture Kid 2005
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