Divine Songs and Dagger Stabs

Hymns accompany the Arajang ritual procession marking the planting season. Bissu display their supernatural power by thrusting a dagger into their own bodies.

December 22, 2010

"TEDDU’KA’ denra maningo. Gonjengnga’ denra mallettung. Mallettungnge ri Ale Luwu. Maningo ri Watang Mpare. (“I wake up the sleeping god. I shake the reclining god. Who is lying in Luwu. Who is asleep in Watampare!”) Saidi Puang Matao sings the song to awaken Arajang, the sacred object believed to have come down from the sky.

Nine other bissu (monk), participating in the Mappalili ritual, respond to Saidi in a choir. They sing 10 songs

...

More Articles