Hundreds of children, mostly of 3 to 15 years of age, gathered in the inner courtyard of Duwur Bingin Temple, in Tegalalang village on Wednesday (4/22/09). They dressed in traditional clothes some of them were bare-chested. They had painted their faces and bodies with colorful images and pattern and each of them carried a slender staff made from the branch of palm, decorated with colorful flowers and young coconut leaves. They are the participants of Ngerebeg ritual.

The Ngerebeg ritual began with distribution of deity’s blessing by magibung ritual (eating collectively); 6 to 8 participants formed a group, they sit together around a set of food and ate it together. After megibung, they lined up in front of the temple to receive purification ritual with sprinkling of holy water by the priest. Then the noisy procession of freakishly decorated children began to hit the street of Tegalalang village.

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