‘Siat Sampian’: A Centuries Old Unique War Performance at Samuan Tiga Temple ( 3 )

The main rituals of Samuan Tiga can be distinguished into three categories, which are the temple festival that falls every six months of the Balinese calendar (210 days) the same day as Kuningan. The other two are ngusaba alit and ngusaba agung, that fall every 11th full moon. The latter being a more elaborate festival that is attended by divinities and gods from related nearby temple networks, ngusaba alit is celebrated every odd year, while ngusaba agung is celebrated every even year, with this year, 2006, being an example, with a more grander ritual. The end of the whole ritual is marked by melasti or a purification ceremony at Lebih Beach, 15 km southward, done through a returning walking procession. In the procession, almost all of the temple regalia like spears, umbrellas, and arca are taken to the beach for purification. The primary congregation of Samuan Tiga temple spread across five customary villages, with a total of 2000 family heads, all of whom are socially obliged to attend the ritual.

Siat sampian is one of the most important and interesting. It's held two or three days after the ngusaba day. The war is first performed by the women's group called premas, and followed by the men's group called parekan. Both premas and parekan mean 'follower' or 'devotee' in Balinese. Not all of the temple's congregation are premas or parekan. The status of the devotees is determined by inheritance along the family line. There are now are 42 premas and 300 parekan. In the last ten years, the number of devotees has increased significantly, not because of an increase in family numbers, but because some of the devotees have submitted themselves to fulfill their spiritual promises, that the temple council would find difficult to reject. There were some of the congregation, for example, who promised to become a devotee if s/he could recovery from a serious and prolonged illness, others become devotees because s/he had been appointed in a dream by the divinities. Gaining a special status has also been a motive for members of the congregation to become premas or parekan. Those holding premas or parekan status are ascribed a certain prestige at the village level. They are often given trust to conduct certain rituals at the village level's temple.