Bali Culture - Barong Ngelawang

During celebration of Galungan & Kuningan holy day, there is unique tradition that you will see in Ubud area. It's called Barong Ngelawang. A group of people performs a barong dance on the street, going from one house to another.

These are 2 kinds of barongs they use. The scared barong from the temple is used by the group of men and the barong-barongan (toy barong) is used by the group of kids. Barong-barongan goes from one village to another village and they receive money from the villagers for their performances.

Barong Ngelawang is a ritual tradition. It was used by the farmer to chase plant diseases away. Today, many restaurant/shop owners invite Barong Ngelawang to perform in front of their places. By doing this, they believe they will get more customers in the future.