Religion in Bali by C. Hooykaas

11 Priests: Amangku Dalang [25]
Anybody in Balinese society is allowed to establish himself as a dalang, puppeteer of the shadow
theatre. Such a nightly performance can be arranged for purely secular and mercenary purposes.
Frequently, however, it is given at the occasion of rites de passage, specially marriage. Then the
choice of the play is not arbitrary but appropriate to the occasion.
Whereas the ordinary dalang performs during the night, uses screen and lamp, needs hours after
hours for a more or less secular performance, the amangku dalang uses neither lamp nor screen,
only a thread supporting the ringgits leaning to it, a thread tended between two branches of the
ever sprouting magically important dapdap tree (n). His performance, frequently at mid day, at
the same time as that of a sengguhu, lasts for about one hour only and at the best attracts some
stray children as the visible part of his auditory. His aim is religious, exorcistic; often it is a child
which is the object of his lukat, but not necessarily so. The child may be intractable, have been
born on the wrong day or in the wrong composition of family.
The performance with the ringgits certainly exercises its healthy influence but above all the
amangku dalang is expected to exorcise by the force of the Holy Water, toya panglukatan, which
he prepares after the performance by sticking handles of certain puppets into holy water,
accompanied by the muttering of the appropriate mantras and the making of the necessary
mudras. The amangku dalang should know by heart several scores of shorter and longer mantras
which he learns from the DHARMA PAWAYANGAN, 'thesaurus of mantras fit for the
shadowplay'. They are conceived in that kind of Sanskrit, deprived of declension and
conjugation, doing only with a very few verbs, called 'Archipelago Sanskrit', which is also found
in many mantras used by the padandas.
It would be misleading to suggest that toya panglukatan, prepared by the amangku dalang, were
only needed for children. Grown ups may as well need it badly during several of the most
different unfortunate situations in life. Its beneficial working is not restricted to the living, under
certain circumstances the dead are as well helped by it.