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.
Priča
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.
Finale
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.
Gdje je pogledati
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.
Rezervirajte s povjerenjem
Pronađite ulaznicu za ples Barong & Kris za vaše datume
Svaka od navedenih opcija može se rezervirati putem GetYourGuidea, uz prikaz trenutne dostupnosti i konačne cijene u vašoj valuti prije plaćanja.
Planiranje ostatka dana
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
Pitanja o plesu Barong
Što je ples Barong, u jednoj rečenici?
Riječ je o svakodnevnoj balijskoj hinduističkoj ritualnoj predstavi koja se odvija u dvorištu hrama – najpoznatijoj u Pura Puseh Batubulan, nedaleko od Ubudaa – u kojoj se dobronamjerni lavoliki zaštitnički duh (Barong) suočava s demonskom vješticom (Rangdom), a vrhunac donose zaigrani plesači koji pritišću kris bodeže na vlastita prsa, neozlijeđeni.
Je li to isto što i Kecak vatreni ples kod Uluwatua?
Ne – radi se o dvije različite predstave. Barong je dnevni show, obično u prijepodnevnim satima, u Batubulanu, uz puni gamelan orkestar i priču o borbi Baronga i Rangde. Kecak je večernji ili zalazak-sunca show na hramu na litici Uluwatu, koji izvodi isključivo muški zbor u sjedećem položaju, pjevajući "cak" bez instrumenata, prepričavajući Ramayanu i završavajući vatrenom trans-sekvencom. Neki dnevni izleti uključuju oboje istog dana u različito vrijeme – vrijedi provjeriti što točno pokriva određena ponuda prije rezervacije.
Je li kris trans opasan ili je režiran?
Lokalno se tretira kao autentično ritualno stanje transa, a ne kao iscenirani trik – vjeruje se da su plesači pod Rangdinom kletvom i zaštićeni od ozljeda Barongovom moći, a hramski pratitelj ostaje u blizini tijekom cijelog nastupa kako bi intervenirao i naknadno oživio svakog plesača svetom vodom. Kakvo god mišljenje imali o samom vjerovanju, bodeži i trans su stvarni; izvođači su povremeno bili lagano označeni, što je dijelom razlog zašto ritualnu zaštitu i nadzor izvođači shvaćaju ozbiljno.
Koliko traje predstava i ima li stanke?
Većina predstava traje oko 60–90 minuta bez stanke, kontinuirano se razvijajući od Barongovog razigranog uvoda, preko Rangdinog ulaska, do kris trans finala.
U koliko sati počinje predstava i koliko unaprijed trebam rezervirati?
Batubulanova predstava održava se u fiksno prijepodnevno vrijeme većinu dana u godini – riječ je o svakodnevnom događaju, a ne povremenom, tako da se vrlo rijetko potpuno rasproda. Glavni rizik u planiranju nije dostupnost, već promet i vrijeme: rezervirajte dan ranije ako želite uključen prijevoz od hotela, i predvidite dodatno vrijeme putovanja iz središnjeg Ubudaa.
Trebam li se dotjerati ili pokriti? Riječ je o pravom hramu.
Primjerena je skromna i poštovanja vrijedna odjeća jer se predstava odvija na aktivnom hramskom području – pokrivena ramena i koljena siguran su izbor, slično kao pri posjetu bilo kojem aktivnom balijskom hramu. Pametna ležerna putna odjeća sasvim je u redu; kupaći kostimi ili vrlo otkrivena odjeća odskaču i nisu prikladni za ovaj ambijent.
Mogu li fotografirati i snimati video tijekom predstave, uključujući i dio s transom?
Općenito da — većina mjesta, uključujući Batubulan, dopušta fotografiranje i snimanje tijekom cijelog programa, uključujući i scenu transa s krisom, budući da je riječ o javnoj izvedbi, a ne o zatvorenoj ceremoniji. Blic u blizini plesača tijekom transa uglavnom se ne preporučuje; provjerite kućna pravila na licu mjesta.
Je li prijevoz ili hotel uključen u cijenu ulaznice?
Ne uvijek — na većini ponuda osnovna karta pokriva samo ulaz, dok se prijevoz do i od hotela prodaje kao dodatna opcija, a manji broj poboljšanih sjedala u prvim redovima također se naplaćuje zasebno. Provjerite pojedinosti na odabranoj ponudi prije nego pretpostavite da je vozač uključen.
Je li prikazana cijena konačna i kako funkcionira rezervacija?
Rezervirate putem GetYourGuidea, koji prikazuje konačnu cijenu u vašoj valuti prije plaćanja i unaprijed navodi politiku otkazivanja za vaš konkretan datum — cijena koju vidite jest cijena koju plaćate, bez skrivenih naknada na blagajni. Mi smo neovisni vodič za balijske dnevne plesne izvedbe, a ne hram, trupa ili blagajna; sama rezervacija obrađuje se putem sigurnog sustava GetYourGuidea.
Je li Batubulan jedino mjesto za gledanje plesa Barong u blizini Ubuda?
Ne — nekoliko sela oko Ubuda i Denpasara priređuje vlastite dnevne izvedbe Baronga i Krisa po sličnom jutarnjem rasporedu, a neki cjelodnevni izleti uparuju predstavu Baronga s drugim postajama poput terasastih rižinih polja Tegallalang, Goa Gajaha ili plantaže kave. Batubulanska verzija u Pura Puseh Batubulan jedna je od najdugovječnijih za posjetitelje, koja datira još iz 1930-ih, zbog čega je većina ponuda uzima kao zadanu.
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