Rangda is the

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, ani ...

queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

of the

Leyak In the Balinese mythology, folklore of Bali, the Leyak locally is a mythological figure in the form of a flying head with entrails (heart, lung, liver, etc.) still attached. Leyak is said to fly trying to find a pregnant woman in order to suck h ...

s in

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

, according to traditional

Balinese mythology Balinese mythology is the traditional mythology of the people of the Indonesian island of Bali, before the majority adoption of Hinduism. Balinese mythology is mainly a kind of animism with some widely known characters and deities. Many theme ...

. Terrifying to behold, the child-eating Rangda leads an army of evil

witches Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have use ...

against the leader of the forces of good — Barong. The battle between Barong and Rangda is featured in a Barong dance which represents the eternal battle between good and evil. Rangda is a term in

old Javanese Old Javanese or Kawi is the oldest attested phase of the Javanese language. It was spoken in the eastern part of what is now Central Java and the whole of East Java, Indonesia. As a literary language, Kawi was used across Java and on the island ...

that means "widow".

Description

Rangda is important in Balinese culture, and performances depicting her struggles with Barong or with Airlangga are popular

tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural b ...

s as well as tradition. She is depicted as a mostly nude old woman, with long and unkempt hair, pendulous breasts, and claws. Her face is traditionally a horrifying

fanged A fang is a long, pointed tooth. In mammals, a fang is a modified maxillary tooth, used for biting and tearing flesh. In snakes, it is a specialized tooth that is associated with a venom gland (see snake venom). Spiders also have external fangs ...

and goggle-eyed

mask A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practic ...

, with a long, protruding tongue.

History

Bali is a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

island, and it is suggested that Rangda may also be closely associated with

Durga Durga ( sa, दुर्गा, ) is a major Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of the mother goddess Mahadevi. She is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars. Durga's legend centres around co ...

. She is also considered similar to the Hindu warrior goddess

Kali Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hinduism, Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In t ...

, the goddess of destruction, transformation and protection in Hinduism. While Rangda is similar to Durga (or Kali) in some cases, she is mostly considered by many as the personification of evil, unlike Durga who is seen as a benevolent mother goddess of fertility and destruction in Northeastern India in

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

Tripura Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the east a ...

. Rangda was linked to the legend of

Calon Arang Calon Arang is a character in Javanese and Balinese folklore dating from the 12th century. Tradition calls her a witch, a master of black magic. It is unknown who composed the story, but a manuscript of the Calon Arang text (written in the Latin ...

and also the legend of divorced and exiled Javanese queen

Mahendradatta Mahendradatta (961—1011 CE), also known as Gunapriya Dharmapatni, was the queen of Bali, the queen consort of Udayana Warmadewa, also popularly known as King Udayana from Warmadewa dynasty. She was also the mother of Javanese hero-king Airlan ...

. The name Rangda in

and Balinese language means "

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word ...

Calon Arang

Rangda is known as a

queen, the incarnation of

, the legendary

witch Witchcraft traditionally means the use of Magic (supernatural), magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In Middle Ages, medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually ...

that wreaked havoc in ancient Java during the reign of

Airlangga Airlangga (also spelled Erlangga), regnal name Rakai Halu Sri Lokeswara Dharmawangsa Airlangga Anantawikramottunggadewa (born 1000/02 in Bali, Indonesia – died 1049 in Java), was the only raja of the Kingdom of Kahuripan. The Kingdom was ...

in late 10th century. It is said that Calon Arang was a widow, who has mastered the art of

black magic Black magic, also known as dark magic, has traditionally referred to the use of supernatural powers or magic for evil and selfish purposes, specifically the seven magical arts prohibited by canon law, as expounded by Johannes Hartlieb in 145 ...

, who often damaged farmers' crops and caused disease to come. She had a daughter, named Ratna Manggali, who, though beautiful, could not get a husband because people were afraid of her mother. Because of the difficulties faced by her daughter, Calon Arang was angry and she intended to take revenge by kidnapping a young girl. She brought the girl to a temple of Death to be sacrificed to the goddess Durga. The next day, a great flood engulfed the village and many people died. Disease also appeared. King

, who had heard of this matter, then asked for his advisor, Empu Bharada, to deal with this problem. Empu Bharada then sent his disciple, Empu Bahula, to be married to Ratna. Both were married with a huge feast that lasted seven days and seven nights, and the situation returned to normal. Calon Arang had a book that contained magic incantations. One day, this book was found by Empu Bahula, who turned it over to Empu Bharada. As soon as Calon Arang knew that the book had been stolen, she became angry and decided to fight Empu Bharada. Without the help of Durga, Calon Arang was defeated. Since she was defeated, the village was safe from the threat of Calon Arang's black magic. Other interpretations claim that Rangda was actually derived from the historical 11th-century queen

or Gunapriyadharmapatni, a Javanese princess sister of

Dharmawangsa Dharmawangsa , stylized regnal name Sri Maharaja Isyana Dharmawangsa Teguh Anantawikramottunggadewa (died 1016) of the Isyana dynasty, was the last raja of the Kingdom of Mataram, who reigned from 990 to 1016 CE. He also known by his posthumous name ...

of East Javanese

Ishana dynasty The Ishana dynasty, rulers of the Kingdom of Mataram, was a dynasty of the Hindu Mataram Kingdom on the island of Java. Ishana (Sanskrit: ईशान, IAST: Īśāna, ) refers to a Hindu god who is often considered to be one of the forms of the Hin ...

of late

Mataram Kingdom The Mataram Kingdom (, jv, ꦩꦠꦫꦩ꧀, ) was a Javanese people, Javanese Hinduism, Hindu–Buddhism, Buddhist kingdom that flourished between the 8th and 11th centuries. It was based in Central Java, and later in East Java. Established b ...

period. She was the queen consort of Balinese king

Udayana Udayana, ( Devanagari: उदयन) also known as Udayanācārya (Udyanacharya, or Master Udayana), (circa 975 - 1050 CE) was an Indian philosopher and logician of the tenth century of the Nyaya school who attempted to devise a rational theo ...

and Airlangga's own mother. Mahendradatta is known for her devotion to the cult of

in Bali. The story goes that Mahendradatta, the mother of Airlangga, was condemned and exiled by the king,

, for allegedly practising witchcraft and black magic. After she became a widow, hurt and humiliated, she sought revenge upon her ex-husband's court and the whole of his kingdom. She summoned all the evil spirits in the jungle, the Leyaks and the demons that caused plague and death in the kingdom. She proceeded to take her revenge by killing off half the kingdom, which by then belonged to her and Dharmodayana's son

, with

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

before being overcome by a holy man.

Gallery

File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Rangda tijdens een barong- en krisdans TMnr 20017895.jpg, Rangda in a Barong dance scene. File:Rangda statue.jpg, Statue of Rangda at a temple. File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM De dienares van Rangda in een Barong- en Krisdans in het voorhof van de dorpstempel TMnr 20000309.jpg, Rangda's attendant in a Barong dance. File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Krisdansers met Rangda tijdens een Barong dansvoorstelling TMnr 20018470.jpg, Barong dance performance with

kris The kris, or ''keris'' in the Indonesian language, is an asymmetrical dagger with distinctive blade-patterning achieved through alternating laminations of iron and nickelous iron (''pamor''). Of Javanese origin, the kris is famous for its disti ...

dancers and Rangda. File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Monster uit de Tjalon Arang dans TMnr 10004741.jpg, Representation of Rangda in a Barong dance. File:Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum - Barong-2478.jpg, Rangda and Barong. File:Rangda statue at Ngurah Rai Airport.jpg, Modern Rangda statue at

Ngurah Rai International Airport I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport ( id, Bandar Udara Internasional I Gusti Ngurah Rai) , is the main airport in Bali, located 13 km south of Denpasar. Ngurah Rai is the second busiest airport in Indonesia after Soekarno–Hatta Int ...

, Bali.

Notes

External links

Bali tourism information on Rangda and her stories

{{Authority control Balinese mythology Demons Female legendary creatures Indonesian legendary creatures