Barong Landung is a magically protective effigy which is found in many villages of Denpasar area in preference to Barong Ket and other types of animal Barong. The word ‘landung’ means tall and indeed the three-meter figures, with human faces and features, tower over their bearers and attendants. A set of Barong Landung consist of five characters: Jero Gede (the Big Man), Jero Luh (his wife), and their three children. Jero Gede has a black complexion, long hair, and fangs while his wife has Chinese features and yellow skin. The children are somewhat shorter and wear mask with pleasant and smiling expression.

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A piece of land is not “just a piece of land” for Balinese, there is something in the land or place that is revered and sometimes feared by them. something unknown, mystical but produces significant effect to Balinese everyday life even to the Balinese community since Balinese believe that mystical realm cannot be separated with the physical world.

The concept of rwa bhineda, two (opposing yet depending on each other) force of nature underlies the distinction made in Bali between the places considered tenget or angker, i.e. uncanny, magically dangerous, possessed by evil spirit or bhuta kala and places that are suci, nirmala, i.e. pure, clean, holy or consecrated by man with divine help. The implementation of the distinction of these two kinds of places can be found in the outline of a Balinese house compound or village.

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Pura Meduwe Karang at Kubutambahan, 12 km from Singaraja, and 108 km from Denpasar is dedicated to the fertility of the and is associated with the dry field (tegalan) and the fruit and vegetable gardens (abian) in the same way as the various temples maintained by the subak associations are linked with the complexes of wet rice fields. It is the temple of all those who cultivate the dry fields whether their crops be coconuts, or fruit, maize, or tobacco, or ground nuts, or coffee, or cotton, or lontar leaves, or palm sugar. The list does not include rice because the soil is unsuitable and the rainfall too low in the coastal areas of east Buleleng for the cultivation of rice in the dry fields.

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Whether Subandar is or not another name for For Jaya Kesunu’s wife is highly debatable. The fact that Subandar is an important figure in Bali is beyond question. There is a large shrine dedicated to Ida Ratu Ayu Subandar located in the extreme northeast corner of the outer courtyard of Pura Dalem Balingkang. Inside of it is a long megalith that is considered to be very sacred and in the shape of a barong landung. At any rate, there seems to be some connection between Subandar and the Balingkang stories. With this in mind, let us examine the other Subandar phenomena in Bali.

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