A. Ottino Origin myths, hierarchical order, and the negotiation of ...

Status in the Balinese Village of Trunyan 499
itors and genitors, the marriage fuses the two lines together so that they
become indissoluble. This has important consequences for the ideology of
unity fostered in the ritual village.
hermaphrodite
elder brother
(male+male+female)
younger sister / wife
(female+male) \
in-coming husband
(male+female)
Figure 4. Hierarchical order established by the nyeburin marriage.
Myth C. Establishment of the present-day village
This myth explains the origin of the effigy of Ratu Sakti Pancering Jagat
(known also as Batara Da Tonta), which occupies the main shrine in the
temple of origin of the village. According to it, Trunyan used to be located
further south, where Cimelandung is today (see map 1). The site on which
the Pura Desa now stands was then known as the Dalem, the place where
ancestral spirits go after the last purificatory rites have been performed
after death, though the myth makes no mention of a temple - only of a
tree, the tantan buni, used today to hang the placenta and other
substances connected with birth in.
One day a farmer hunting at the Dalem with his dog found a small statue
emerging from the ground. The statue began to grow, soon reaching its
present height of four metres. Eventually a shrine was built over it. At
fïrst the shrine had a roof with eleven mem (a mark of the highest status
in Balinese society), but - so the myth goes - the growing statue
pierced through the roof of the shrine and knocked four meru down,
leaving only seven. In time, the Pura Bali Desa Pancering Jagat Bali was
built around the shrine, which nowadays stands in the inner sanctum
(penaleman jeroan) together with the shrine of the wife of the former,
Ratu Ayu Pingit Dalam Dasar (see map 2, shrines 42 and 39). 18
This myth reinforces the identification of the ruler with the earth which
was implied by the nyeburin marriage in the previous myth. It also asserts
the stabilizing effect of the establishment of the kingdom on the world,
and places the status of this kingdom within the Balinese political order.
The appearance of the statue initiates a considerable conceptual
18 Taken from 'Legenda Mengenai Ditemukannya Patung Ratu Sakti Pancering
Jagat', Danandjaja 1980:44-6.