Bali News, Denpasar – There are many unique traditions in Bali, started since a Balinese is born until he/she died. One of the series is the ‘Metatah’ or ‘Mesangih’ ceremony. This tooth-filing ceremony is held to mark a teenager who has grown up into an adult.  For Balinese, parents must hold this ceremony for their children. Besides, this important ceremony, which based on Hindu’s belief, Metatah is functioned to ease the ‘Sad Ripu’ factors. Sad Ripu means the six enemies or evil sides inside human beings. They are: anger, jealously, foolishness, lust, greed, and dipsomania.
This ritual is handled by a tooth-filling expert called ’Sangging’ who knows about the procedures. The ritual takes about 10 to 15 minutes. It started with mantra chanting by the ‘Sanging’, continued by prayer to the God and the ancestor, asking for safe and smooth run of the ritual.  In the main ritual, the person will be asked to lie down, and show their teeth. The Sangging will then touch his ruby ring to the person’s teeth as a symbol of protection from black magic that could attack during the ritual. The tooth-filling will then begin when the Sangging filed the six incisors. Those teeth are leveled including the canine. Then the participant should spit his/her saliva into a small coconut fruit which is hold by the participant’s mother. Then something made of betel leaves is given to be bitten by participant as a symbol of Sad Rasa (Six Taste), symbolizing that he/she is ready to face the world. The Metatah series will then be finished by praying as the expression of gratitude, and then followed with ‘Melukat’ or self purification.
This Metatah Ceremony is a symbolic event to point out that someone should be wiser when stepping as an adult. At the end of the ceremony, they family holding the ceremony would all pray for the new life, safety, and to be spared from the six enemies or evil sides. -dot-