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.
Príbeh
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.
Finále
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.
Kde ho vidieť
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.
Rezervujte s istotou
Nájdite lístok na tanec Barong & Kris na vaše termíny
Každú z nižšie uvedených možností si môžete rezervovať cez GetYourGuide – s aktuálnou dostupnosťou a konečnou cenou zobrazenou vo vašej mene ešte pred platbou.
Plánovanie zvyšku dňa
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
Otázky o tancovaní Barong
Čo je tanec Barong v jednej vete?
Ide o každodenné balijské hinduistické rituálne predstavenie na nádvorí chrámu – najznámejšie v Pura Puseh Batubulan neďaleko Ubudu – v ktorom dobrotivý lev podobný strážny duch (Barong) čelí démonickej čarodejnici (Rangda), pričom vyvrcholením sú tanečníci v tranze, ktorí si bez ujmy tlačia kris dýky na vlastnú hruď.
Je to to isté ako Kecak ohnivý tanec v Uluwatu?
Nie – ide o dve rozdielne predstavenia. Barong je denná show, zvyčajne v polovici dopoludnia, v Batubulane, s kompletným gamelanovým orchestrom a príbehom Barong vs. Rangda. Kecak je večerná alebo západová show v chrámovom komplexe na útese Uluwatu, ktorú celú predvádza sediaci mužský zbor skandujúci „cak“ bez hudobných nástrojov, rozprávajúci Rámajánu a končiaci ohnivým tranovým záverom. Niektoré celodenné výlety zahŕňajú obe v ten istý deň v rôznych časoch – pred rezerváciou sa oplatí skontrolovať, ktorú konkrétnu ponuka pokrýva.
Je kris tranz nebezpečný, alebo ide o inscenáciu?
Miestne sa to považuje za skutočný rituálny stav tranzu, nie za nacvičený kúsok – verí sa, že tanečníci sú pod kliatbou Rangdy a chránení pred ujmou silou Baronga, pričom chrámový sprievodca je po celý čas nablízku, aby v prípade potreby zasiahol a po skončení každého tanečníka oživil svätenou vodou. Nech už na túto vieru pozeráte akokoľvek, dýky aj tranz sú skutočné; účinkujúcich občas zľahka poznačia, čo je aj dôvod, prečo rituálnu ochranu a dohľad berú samotní tanečníci vážne.
Ako dlho predstavenie trvá a je tam prestávka?
Väčšina predstavení trvá približne 60 – 90 minút bez prestávky, plynule gradujúc od hravého úvodu Baronga cez príchod Rangdy až po záverečný kris tranz.
O koľkej začína show a ako dlho vopred si mám rezervovať?
Batubulanská show začíva v pevnom dopoludňajšom čase väčšinu dní v roku – ide o každodennú stálicu, nie príležitostnú udalosť, takže sa len veľmi zriedka úplne vypredá. Hlavné riziko pri plánovaní nie je dostupnosť, ale doprava a načasovanie: rezervujte deň vopred, ak chcete zahrnúť vyzdvihnutie z hotela, a počítajte s dlhším časom na presun z centrálneho Ubudu.
Musím sa obliecť slávnostne alebo sa zakryť? Je to skutočný chrám.
Vhodný je skromný a rešpektujúci odev, keďže predstavenie prebieha na aktívnom chrámovom pozemku – bezpečným štandardom sú primerane zakryté ramená a kolená, podobne ako pri návšteve akéhokoľvek fungujúceho balijského chrámu. Cestovné oblečenie v štýle smart casual je v poriadku; plavky alebo veľmi odhaľujúce oblečenie by bili do očí a na takéto prostredie sa nehodí.
Môžem počas predstavenia vrátane tranzovej časti fotografovať a natáčať video?
Vo všeobecnosti áno – väčšina miest, vrátane Batubulanu, umožňuje fotografovanie a natáčanie počas celého predstavenia vrátane scény s kris transom, keďže ide o verejné vystúpenie, nie uzavretý obrad. Blesk priamo na tanečníkov počas transu sa zvyčajne neodporúča; konkrétne pravidlá overte na mieste.
Je v cene lístka zahrnutá doprava alebo vyzdvihnutie z hotela?
Nie vždy – pri väčšine ponúk základný lístok zahŕňa len vstup, pričom vyzdvihnutie a odvoz z hotela sa predáva ako samostatný doplnok; malý počet vylepšených miest v prvom rade je tiež spoplatnený zvlášť. Predpoklad, že je v cene zahrnutý vodič, si overte v konkrétnych podmienkach vašej vybranej ponuky.
Je uvedená cena konečná a ako funguje rezervácia?
Rezervujete cez GetYourGuide, ktorý zobrazí konečnú cenu vo vašej mene ešte pred platbou a vopred uvedie podmienky storna pre váš konkrétny termín – cena, ktorú vidíte, je cena, ktorú zaplatíte, bez skrytých poplatkov pri dokončení nákupu. Sme nezávislý sprievodca dennými tanečnými predstaveniami na Bali, nie chrám, súbor ani pokladňa; samotná rezervácia prebieha cez bezpečný pokladničný systém GetYourGuide.
Je Batubulan jediné miesto, kde sa dá pri Ubud-e vidieť tanec Barong?
Nie – niekoľko dedín v okolí Ubud-u a Denpasar-u organizuje vlastné denné predstavenia Barong a Kris s podobným ranným harmonogramom a niektoré celodenné výlety spájajú show Barong s ďalšími zastávkami, ako sú ryžové terasy Tegallalang, Goa Gajah alebo kávová plantáž. Verzia v Batubulane v chráme Pura Puseh Batubulan patrí medzi najdlhšie fungujúce pre návštevníkov, siaha až do 30. rokov 20. storočia, a preto je tou, ktorú väčšina ponúk štandardne uvádza.
Ešte sa rozhodujete, ktoré ráno vyraziť?
Zanechajte nám svoj e-mail a približný termín návštevy Ubud – pošleme vám stručný prehľad časov predstavení a tip, ako si ho zaradiť do vášho rána.