When a grand ceremony such as Ngenteg Lingih (held once every 30 years) or deification of ancestor soul (nyekah) is held both Balinese and visitors will have a chance to see the rare Ketungan and hear its unique rhythmic sound. Ketungan, as a matter of fact is not a musical instrument but a long wooden mortar made of tree trunk complete with some long wooden pestles which is used to thrash the rice in order to detach the grain from the husk. When the rice is thrashed using the mortar, the long trough of the mortar is filled with rice and then the rice is pounded using the tall wooden pestles.

The ketungan is sounded by pounding the wooden pestles continuously into the ketungan. The collision of wooden pestles against the wooden mortar will produce deep continuous sounds which can cover surprisingly long distance. Ketungan is usually sounded by 6 or more women; each of them hold a long wooden pestle and pound the mortar with a specific rhythm. The different rhythms of the pounding will produce a complex interlocking pattern of polyrhythm. Sometimes the outer side of the wooden mortar is also pounded with a wooden hammer or two, adding new rhythms to the complex rhythm of the wooden pestles.

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When a grand ceremony is held, the performance of Wayang Lemah is obligatory. As its name suggest Wayang Lemah is always performed in the daylight (“wayang” means “puppet” and “lemah” means “day”) and is usually performed as long as the high priest officiates the ceremony. Wayang Lemah is an exorcistic play, it is performed primarily for invisible audiences: the spirit, divinities and the demons, it is a part of ceremony which functions to ensure the success of a ceremony and obviously not an entertainment for mortals.

The stage for Wayang Lemah is simpler than the spectacular Wayang Peteng (Night Shadow Puppet) since it does not need a screen and wick lamp and there will be no shadow. Wayang Lemah stage consists of three young, cut banana trunks for placing the puppet during the play (the pointed handle of the puppet can easily stuck into soft banana trunks), on either side of long banana trunk, which runs across and forms the actual stage, two big branches of evergreen dapdap tree had been pushed vertically through the banana trunk into the ground; at top they branched out in three directions symbolizing Hindu trinity.

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