The ancient game of thieves

The people of Tenganan Pengringsingan caught two thieves red-handed on a Saturday afternoon.

The pilferers, Kepra and Beben, were too busy stealing slices of pork meat dried on the village’s open community hall Bale Agung to notice the villagers had embushed them. The two youths tried to run away, but the villagers cornered them before they had any chance to escape.

As a punishment, the villagers forced the suspects to apply makeup on their faces. Slices of pork meats were tied to their heads, waists, wrists and ankles. The suspects were told to wear odd-looking crowns made up of dried coconut leaves and skirts out of dried banana leaves. The villagers finally colored the suspects’ bare chests with markers.

When they were done with the suspects, Kepra and Beben could have passed for transgender members of royalty from the Kingdom of Loonies.

The punishment didn’t end there. The suspects were escorted across the village, providing ample opportunities for villagers to mock them. Local residents, who lined the street, also had the right to add “fashionable” items to the suspects’ already bizarre costumes.

By the end of the march, the suspects met their heaviest penalty; Tenganan-style forced labor. The villagers had free reins to ask the suspects to do any chore as long as it was related to the preparation of the village’s major religious ritual.

“The suspects must perform whatever tasks the villagers require of them,” the village chief I Komang Karyawan said.

The catch? Kepra and Beben were not real thieves. These innocent young men were handpicked to impersonate thieves in the village’s ancient game of thieves.

Known as Maling-malingan, derived from the word maling (thief), the game is an integral part of the village’s annual religious festival Usaba Sambah, held on the fifth month of the Tenganan calendar, or June in the Gregorian calendar.

“The game is an annual ritual, which has been carried out over centuries,” Karyawan said.

Playtime: Young women in Tenganan play on the Ferris wheel-like, sacred wooden structure during the Usaba Sambah festival.Playtime: Young women in Tenganan play on the Ferris wheel-like, sacred wooden structure during the Usaba Sambah festival.

Karyawan didn’t know precisely when the first Maling-malingan was held. Local folklore only detailed the nature surrounding the first Maling-malingan.

“It was first held several centuries ago during a Usaba Sambah,” he said.

It is believed several villagers stole the meats reserved for sacred offerings during that festival. Locals then devised the game as a way to punish perpetrators.

“It was a sort of collective punishment aimed at humiliating the thieves,” he stressed.

This collective punishment still exists today. Citing an article in local customary law, Karyawan stated a thief would be given the same punishments as in the Maling-malingan.

“Fortunately, we haven’t witnessed any thefts for decades,” he said.

Tenganan Pegringsingan, located 70 kilometers east of Denpasar, is an ancient village home to Bali Aga, a term generally used to refer to indigenous Balinese although it literally means the mountain people of Bali.

Tenganan Pegringsingan’s Bali Aga observe different rituals and hold different religious beliefs from the majority of Balinese. While the large majority of Balinese follow the Trimurti concept of Hinduism, with its three main gods, Brahma the Creator, Wisnu the Sustainer and Siwa the Destroyer, cultural artifacts suggest the people of Tenganan are the last remaining worshippers of Indra, the lord of the sky and thunder in the Hindu pantheon.

The villagers observe strict monogamy. Those who marry outsiders or practice polygamy are banished from the village and stripped of all hereditary rights. The community owns most of the land and property, and the village vehemently protects the forest around the village.

The village is one of the island’s main tourist attractions, providing visitors with a chance to see the weavers of rare double ikat cloth Geringsing in action, as well as the Perang Pandan, during which local youths partake in a duel using clubs of thorny pandanus leaves.

Who moved my meat?: A villager from Tenganan, Bali, who was handpicked to play the Maling-malingan game of thief, is covered in makeup and wears a crown with pieces of meat hanging from it.Who moved my meat?: A villager from Tenganan, Bali, who was handpicked to play the Maling-malingan game of thief, is covered in makeup and wears a crown with pieces of meat hanging from it.