The Barong presented here is called Barong Keket. This Barong Keket wear a mask, corresponding with a mythical "lion" and the folower friend "monkey" and This type is the most popular Barong.
No one can explain the meaning of the word Barong. The name of the Barong depends on the animal represented. If the mask is of a tiger (in Balinese: Macan) the Barong is then called Barong Macan, and so if the mask is of 2 boar (in Balinese: Celeng or Bangkal) the Barong is then called Barong Bangkal.
Barong, a mythical creature with long swayback and curved tail, represent the affirmative, the protector of Mankind, the glory of the high sun, and the favorable spirits associated with the right and white magic.
Rangda, the widow-witch, is its opposite complement. She rules the evil spirits and witches who haunt graveyards late at night. Her habitat is darkness and her specialties lie with the practice of black magic, the destructive force of the left.
Both figures are of the same earthly substance, possessing strong magical prowess. Somewhere in a mythical past, the Barong was won over to the side of humanity, and in the dance, fights on behalf of the people against the intruding death forces of the Rangda.
The barong play represent an eternal fight between Good and Evil; the Barong represent Good the Rangda , the mythological monster, represents Evil. It stages the story of Kunti Sraya, a favourite theme of drama, depicts from the main episode of the famous Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. This special story is about Dewi Kunti, the mother of the five Pandawas who for some reasons, has promised to sacrifice Sadewa, one of her five sons to Rangda.
source : baliviptours.com
