mask (ansiktsmask)

Mask av skuret och bemålat trä. Masken har demonansikte med stora , runda, stirrande ögon, långa, utstickande hörntänder och en utskjutande överkäke. Hörntänderna är lösa och fästade vid masken med spikar. På insidan finns ett metallband fäst med spik, troligtvis upphängningsanordning.

"Rangda, the embodiment of a witch par exellence, with protruding, wide-open eyes, wild mane-like hair, a mouth with a row of large upper incisors and huge, curved canines; rangda, with a bright red, flaming tongue that, like her flaccid breasts, hangs down to the magical hip cloth which protects her from pointed weapons...But who is rangda for the Balinese? Above all, she is a great theatrical figure, a pamurtian character, i.e. a mask increased to superhuman proportions, which always appears when a fight between right and left breaks out on magical territory. Thus Durga occasionally uses her body and the widow Calon Arang in the drama of the same name fights in the form of a rangda against the exorcist priest Mpu Paradah, who for his part can take on the shape of the barong.
Barong and Rangda are by no means inseparably connected and play completely independent roles in various rites. While the figure of rangda can probably be traced back to Tantric magic practices of the Singhasari period, the origins of the barong are uncertain; but Chinese-Buddhist influences may certainly be taken into consideration. In this case one must in all likelihood look outside Bali for the cultural-historical roots of both figures. The fact that both of them are missing in the Old Balinese viallges also suggests this." (Ramseyer, Urs. 1977. s.190)

Skador:
Färgen har flagnat lite grand.

(NS)