Being an agricultural community, the Balinese regards anything that helps them in farming highly. That includes livestock, and farm animals. Thus to show gratitude to these farm animals. The Baliense celebrates a celebration named Tumpek Kandang every six months.
The name of Tumpek Kandang is derived from two words, “Tumpek” which means Saturday and “Kandang”, the Balinese word for the household animals such as livestock, farm animals, etc, all of which are highly valued by the Balinese, especially cows.
Cows in Bali receive better treatment than any other animals, because they assist farmer when they are tasked to plow the rice field. They would be washed and dressed-up in clothes fit for humans, and a special cone shaped spirals of cococnuts leaves are placed on their horns, while pigs are usually decorated with a white cloth, wrapping their bellies. The animals are then fed with special foods, sprinkled with rice and holy water and prayers are offered.
Tumpek Kandang occurs every six months on a Saturday on the wuku of Uye, according to the Balinese Calendar. On this day, the Balinese present offerings to Rare Angon, the shepherd and celebrate all kinds of anlimals. This ritual certainly isn’t an animal worship ritual. The Balinese considers animals as friends for life, created by God as a living creature. Human life is much assisted by animals, especially in satisfying the needs of food, the labor force, religious ceremonies and the economy. For the sake of preservation and prosperity of such animals, the Balinese plead for God as the greatest source.
The ritual also has an additional meaning, which is as a demonstration of evidence that the Balinese community is aware of animal welfare. This means there is an awarness of owing “merits” to the animal, since such creatures are the preservation and prosperity of the ecosystem. Without animals on Earth, the life cycle would not work and interrupted. The ritual is also not only about farm animals, it is often related to wildlife preseves in Bali, where the staffs hold large ceremonies to honor the animals held in captivity. At the sacred Monkey Forest in Ubud, although the monkeys are not in captivity, a ceremony is conducted, praying for the safety and health of the monkeys, because of the huge sosial and economic role the monkey play for the main village in Ubud.
There is a special day for everything in Bali, animals, machinery, the sea, the list is endless, and that’s why we love Bali so much. Each ceremony is colourful and musical, a sight to behold for a visiting touris. Overall, the deeper meaning of the ritual is to remind people to keep in touch with nature, and be grateful for the bleesings that nature has provided. In that sense, Tumpek Kandang can be seen in correlation with the other Tumpek days, such as Tumpek Pengatag, again all about maintaining a harmonious relationship with all aspects of nature.