Story of Bali, Indonesia

"it means *Congratulations sunlight*," he says. I hope Rismono's translation of Dirga Surya is correct, and think the name should be Anglicized. Travellers' tales would be less boring if one could start off with: "I remember. up in North Sumatra, meeting a very odd bod when I was staying in Medan at the Hotel Congratulations Sunlight

As we run out of the city I try to read an informating sheet on Medan I have been presented with, prepared by the North Sumatra Tourist Guide Association (N'osutoga). It turns out to be a short (but not short enough) account of the Sulthartate (not sultanate) of Deli~ the province we arc in. There is a legendary bit about a princess in a glass coffin but. Historically it becomes dull in the most meticulous way, e.g..On August 28th 1888 Sulthan Maamun Alrasjid founded the new Sulthan Deli's castle at Medan and on May t8th 1891 transferred all governmental activities.

Among the traditional dances in Sulawesi there are some of a magical nature, meaning that they have the power of white magic, which is usually used to fight evil or deceases. Claire Holt in her book Dance in Celebes mentions the Bissu Dance of South sulawesi and the mabugi dance of the torajas.

THE BISSU DANCE. The Bisu Dance is danced by a Bissu (priest) who is the mediator between man and the gods, whom the Bugis people consider as their ancestors. The Bissu, who functions as a shaman, behaves and dresses like a woman or a hermaprodite. In his function as mediator he often dances. Each Bugis king used to have a Bissu whose duty was to take care of the king's heirlooms, such as weapons often entered by the spirits of the ancestors.

Anyway the sulthanate no longer exists since Indonesian independence. And the former Sulthan's. Palace was in a very messy state of repair, not open to visitors. not worth visiting.

We are now beyond the shanty-town suburbs of Medan. The cocopalms have thickened and we arc no longer passing Ox, carts' with turbaned 'Indian drivers, or houses with harsh roofs of corrugated iron. Now the houses arc thatched with nipa-palm, and their walls are mainly bamboo. We are in the region called Karo.

The Karonese belong to the large trubal group of Batak people. Their country now has the smotheringly thick, lush vegetation we call jungle. It contains monkeys galore, the occasional orang- utan and the rare. rather small tiger. In terrain less overgrown, Sumatra also has the rhinoceros.

THE MA'BUGI DANCE. The word bugi' means a demon who brings diseases. The Ma'bugi Dance is a dance of the Torajas used to drive away diseases. It is performed by twelve men and is usually field in the evening till midnight. The dancers sing while they dance. PROFANE OR SECULAR DANCES
In South Sulawesi there are a great number of dances which are mere entertainment. Among them are the Raga, Lenggo, Akkarena Canggolong-golong and Mappuka' dances. In North Sulawesi the best-known is the Maengket Dance.

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