What are some of the organizations that are structured under
the banjar? Part II
Whilst travelling around Bali, you may have noticed that
at the front of most banjar, there is a large board with writing
on it. This tells the public that there are a number of organizations
and groups that fall under the banjar structure. One organization
that most banjar have is a gamelan group, known as ‘sekaa
gong’ in Balinese. The word ‘sekaa’ may
be spelt in a number of different ways: seka, sekaa, sekehe
or sekaha – they all mean the same thing. ‘Gong’
refers to the entire gamelan orchestra, all its instruments
and the members of the group, not just a round thing called
a gong.
There will be a structured organization within a sekaa gong.
This may consist of: a leader (kelihan), vice-leader (wakil
kelihan), a secretary (sekretaris) and a treasurer (bendahara).
For really big events like a calonarang dance drama performance,
the sekaa gong will also structure a committee to carry out
tasks like food and drink at practices, hiring teachers, organising
costumes, the venue, lighting and stage decorations.
A banjar sekaa gong will play at temple festivals and banjar
anniversaries. They may also be asked to play at ceremonies
of members of the banjar or even the village. Some sekaa gong
will play at festivals, and also do paid gigs at hotels and
ceremonies outside their village, if there are commissioned.
Members of a sekaa gong were traditionally all men, but now
in many banjar you will find women’s groups (sekaa gong
wanita) and children’s groups (sekaa gong anak-anak).
In the old days, the nights would be alive with sekaa gong
practices nearly every night. However, these days sekaa gong
only practice when there is an event to prepare for. If the
sekaa gong is chosen to represent their regency in the highly
competitive gong kebyar festival at the annual Bali Arts Festival,
however, the group will practice intensively for several months.
A festival winning banjar group will be the pride of the banjar
for many years.
See the next issue of Kulture Kid for even more about banjar
organizations.
Copyright@ Kulture Kid 2007
You can read all past articles of Kulture Kid at www.BaliAdvertiser.biz
