Main content

First transmitted in 1969, this episode covers the rituals and festivals of Bali, with their origins in ancient ceremonials practised long before Hinduism came to the island.

First transmitted in 1969, this episode covers the rituals and festivals of Bali, officially Hindu, but with origins in ancient ceremonials practised long before Hinduism came to the island.The Miracle of Bali: Night focuses on the Balinese tradition of ‘sanghyang’, a sacred Balinese dance where the performers body is believed to be inhabited by a spiritual entity, rendering the performer into a trance. The first performance captured is a sanghyang dedari, a dance performed by pre-pubescent girls. Other forms of sanghyang possession trances shown are sanghyang jaran and sanghyang celeng, in which the male dancers are possessed by the spirits of horses and pigs respectively. David Attenborough also witnesses a spectacular traditional masked dance depicting a battle between mythological characters Barong and Rangda. The performance, however, descends into chaos, with men in the crowd also falling into a trance and rushing to attack Rangda.

Available now

49 minutes

Last on

Tue 17 Jun 1969 20:00

Clip

Sir David Attenborough - The Early Years

Sir David Attenborough - The Early Years

This programme is part of a ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Four Collection showcasing the early work of Sir David Attenborough.


About ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Four Collection programmes

Programmes are selected, in part, for their historical context and reflect the broadcast standards and attitudes of their time, which may not accord to some current ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ editorial guidelines. We aim to select programmes which can be shown in their entirety but in some cases edits are required.

Broadcast

Featured in...

Something in the post from Sir David: 'Never before has the delivery of a letter caused such a stir'

Working with the legendary broadcaster on our ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Four archive collection.