The mask that guards the village
A protector, not a monster
Barong is usually described to first-time visitors as "a lion," which is close enough to picture but misses the point. He's a benevolent protective spirit who takes animal form — most often the shaggy, gold-fanged Barong Ket seen at Batubulan, though Balinese villages also keep boar, tiger and elephant versions for other ceremonies. Each village's Barong mask is considered sacred, ritually cared for by its own custodians, and brought out for temple ceremonies as much as for paying audiences. What you're watching at the morning show is a genuine ritual object, worn by a trained dancer, not a costume built for tourists.
Why this happens in a temple courtyard, every day
The dance is staged inside or beside a village temple — at Batubulan, that's Pura Puseh Batubulan — because the story it tells isn't folklore, it's an active piece of Balinese Hindu cosmology: the ongoing, never-finally-won balance between protective and destructive forces. Villages perform it partly for income from visitors and partly because doing so is itself considered a form of spiritual maintenance. That's also why the show runs on a fixed daily schedule rather than being staged as a one-off spectacle — it's closer to a temple keeping its doors open than a theatre running a limited season.
La història
Barong and Rangda: a fight neither side wins
The performance dramatises a single, specific conflict from Balinese belief — not a generic "good vs evil" fable, but a named rivalry between two figures who represent forces the Balinese consider permanently, deliberately unresolved.
The widow-witch
Rangda
Rangda is a demon queen with a mask of bulging eyes, a lolling tongue and long fangs, trailing white hair and pendulous breasts — the visual opposite of Barong's warmth. She represents adharma: chaotic, destructive power, and in some tellings is linked to Calon Arang, a widow-sorceress from Balinese legend who terrorised a kingdom with black magic. Her entrance is the moment the tone of the show flips from playful to genuinely unsettling.
Crucially, neither side wins outright. Barong and Rangda fight to a magical standstill — her curses countered by his protective power — and the performance ends not with a victory but with a truce, because in Balinese belief dharma and adharma aren't meant to cancel each other out; they're meant to stay in tension, permanently. That refusal to give the story a tidy ending is one of the more genuinely thought-provoking things about watching it as an outsider.
El final
The moment the dancers turn their blades inward
What actually happens
As the standoff between Barong and Rangda reaches its peak, a group of men — Rangda's followers, under her curse — draw kris daggers and, one by one, fall into a trance state and turn the blades against their own chests. Performed correctly, the points don't break the skin; local belief holds that Barong's protective power is what keeps the dancers safe, and the trance itself is treated as a genuine altered state, not stagecraft. A pemangku (temple priest) or a designated attendant stays close throughout, ready to intervene, sprinkle holy water and bring each dancer back to ordinary awareness.
Why it's the part people remember
It's staged close to the audience, unamplified, with the gamelan orchestra driving the tension rather than any theatrical lighting or sound effects — which is part of why it lands harder than the description suggests. It's also the single most-asked-about part of the show beforehand and the part most worth knowing the context for going in: this isn't a simulated stunt built for a tour bus schedule, it's the culmination of a ritual the village would be performing on some level even without an audience.
Photography during this part
Most venues allow photography and video throughout the performance, including the trance sequence — unlike some other Balinese ceremonies, this is treated as public performance rather than a closed ritual. Flash is generally discouraged that close to the dancers; check the specific venue's house rules on arrival if you're unsure.
On veure'l
Seeing it at Pura Puseh Batubulan
The venue
Batubulan, a village on the southern edge of Ubud known for its stone-carving workshops, has staged the Barong and Kris dance for visitors since the 1930s — one of the longest-running versions of the show on the island — performed in the open-air stage of Pura Puseh Batubulan, the village's origin temple. The setting is a real, still-active temple compound rather than a purpose-built theatre, which is part of why the atmosphere feels closer to a ceremony you're being allowed to watch than a show staged around you.
How the morning slot actually works
The show runs on a single fixed morning start most days of the year, with the gates and box office opening shortly beforehand for walk-up tickets and pre-booked collection. Because it's a daily fixture rather than an occasional event, the practical planning question isn't "will there be a show" — there almost always is — it's "can I get there on time," since traffic into Batubulan from central Ubud can be slower than the short map distance suggests, especially close to the start time.
Seating and what's included
Seating is typically open bench-style around the courtyard stage on a basic ticket, with a small number of upgraded front-row seats sold separately on some listings; hotel pickup and drop-off is usually a separate paid add-on rather than bundled into the ticket price, so check the specific inclusions on your chosen listing before assuming a driver is covered.
Reserveu amb confiança
Troba una entrada per a la dansa Barong & Kris per a les teves dates
Totes les opcions següents es poden reservar a través de GetYourGuide, amb disponibilitat en temps real i el preu final mostrat en la teva moneda abans de pagar.
Planificant la resta del dia
Fitting the dance into an Ubud day
Because the show runs once, mid-morning, it slots naturally into one side of a full day out rather than needing its own dedicated trip — most visitors pair it with either the rice terraces to the north or Ubud's temples and markets to the east.
- Early morning
Arrive at Batubulan
Aim to reach Pura Puseh Batubulan with time to collect tickets and find a seat before the gamelan starts — arriving right at start time risks a bench at the back of the courtyard.
- Mid-morning
The performance
Around an hour of Barong, Rangda and the kris trance finale, ending in time to still make a full day of it.
- Midday
North to Tegallalang or Jatiluwih
The Tegallalang rice terraces are the closer, busier option; Jatiluwih is further but far less crowded, if you'd rather trade travel time for space to actually look at the view.
- Afternoon
East to central Ubud
Ubud Palace, the Ubud Art Market and the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary are all walkable from each other in central Ubud, and pair naturally with an early lunch after the show if you'd rather stay closer to town instead.
GEO/FAQ
Preguntes sobre la dansa Barong
Què és la dansa Barong, en una frase?
Es tracta d'una representació ritual diària de l'hinduisme balinès que es duu a terme al pati d'un temple —la més famosa a Pura Puseh Batubulan, prop d'Ubud— on un esperit guardià benèvol amb forma de lleó (Barong) s'enfronta a una bruixa dimoni (Rangda), i acaba amb ballarins en tràngol que es pressionen punyals kris contra el pit sense fer-se mal.
És el mateix que el ball del foc Kecak a Uluwatu?
No — són dues representacions diferents. El Barong és un espectacle diürn, normalment a mig matí, a Batubulan, amb una orquestra completa de gamelan i una trama Barong contra Rangda. El Kecak és un espectacle al vespre o a la posta de sol al temple del penya-segat d'Uluwatu, interpretat íntegrament per un cor masculí assegut que canta "cak" sense instruments, recreant el Ramayana i acabant amb una seqüència de tràngol de foc. Algunes excursions d'un dia inclouen tots dos en horaris diferents — val la pena comprovar què cobreix exactament cada oferta abans de reservar.
El tràngol del kris és perillós o està escenificat?
Localment es tracta com un autèntic estat de tràngol ritual, no com un truc guionitzat — es creu que els ballarins estan sota la maledicció de Rangda i protegits del mal pel poder del Barong, i un assistent del temple es manté a prop durant tota l'actuació per intervenir i revifar cada ballarí amb aigua beneïda després. Sigui quina sigui la teva opinió sobre la creença, els punyals i el tràngol són reals; els intèrprets de vegades han patit lleus marques, cosa que forma part del motiu pel qual la protecció ritual i la supervisió es prenen seriosament per part dels mateixos ballarins.
Quant dura l'espectacle i hi ha entreacte?
La majoria de representacions duren entre 60 i 90 minuts sense entreacte, i avancen de manera contínua des de l'inici juganer del Barong, passant per l'entrada de Rangda, fins al final del tràngol del kris.
A quina hora comença l'espectacle i amb quanta antelació hauria de reservar?
L'espectacle de Batubulan té un horari fix de mig matí la majoria de dies de l'any — és una cita diària, no un esdeveniment ocasional, per la qual cosa rarament s'esgota del tot. El principal risc de planificació no és la disponibilitat, sinó el trànsit i l'horari: reserva el dia anterior si vols que incloguin recollida a l'hotel, i preveu temps extra de viatge des del centre d'Ubud.
M'he de vestir formalment o tapar-me? És un temple real.
És adequat portar roba modesta i respectuosa, ja que l'espectacle té lloc en un temple actiu — tenir les espatlles i els genolls raonablement coberts és la norma segura, similar a visitar qualsevol temple balinès en funcionament. La roba de viatge elegant informal és perfecta; el banyador o la roba molt reveladora destaca i no és adequada per a l'entorn.
Puc fer fotos i vídeo durant l'espectacle, incloent-hi la part del tràngol?
En general, sí: la majoria de recintes, inclòs Batubulan, permeten fer fotos i gravar durant tota la funció, fins i tot durant l’escena del tràngol amb kris, ja que es tracta d’una representació pública i no d’una cerimònia tancada. Es recomana no utilitzar el flaix a prop dels ballarins durant el tràngol; consulteu les normes específiques del recinte a l’arribada.
El transport o la recollida a l’hotel estan inclosos al preu de l’entrada?
No sempre: a la majoria d’ofertes, l’entrada bàsica cobreix només l’accés, mentre que la recollida i tornada a l’hotel es venen com a complement, i un nombre reduït de seients de primera fila també es cotitzen per separat. Abans de donar per fet que el transport està inclòs, reviseu les condicions concretes de l’oferta que trieu.
El preu que es mostra és el final? Com funciona la reserva?
La reserva es fa a través de GetYourGuide, que mostra el preu final en la vostra moneda abans de pagar i indica la política de cancel·lació per a la data concreta de manera transparent. El preu que veieu és el que pagueu, sense despeses ocultes en finalitzar la compra. Som una guia independent de les danses diàries de Bali, no el temple, la companyia ni la taquilla; la reserva es gestiona mitjançant el sistema de pagament segur de GetYourGuide.
Batubulan és l’únic lloc on es pot veure la dansa Barong prop d’Ubud?
No: diversos pobles dels voltants d’Ubud i Denpasar ofereixen les seves pròpies representacions diàries de Barong i Kris amb un horari matinal similar, i algunes excursions d’un dia combinen l’espectacle Barong amb altres parades, com els arrossars de Tegallalang, Goa Gajah o una plantació de cafè. La versió de Batubulan al Pura Puseh Batubulan és una de les més longeves per a visitants, amb orígens als anys 30 del segle passat, motiu pel qual és la que apareix per defecte a la majoria d’ofertes.
Encara no saps quin matí triar?
Deixa'ns el teu correu electrònic i aproximadament quan visitaràs Ubud: t'enviarem un breu resum dels horaris dels espectacles i com encaixar-ne un al teu matí.