On Thursday, 4/24/08, a sacred and unique ceremony known as Siat Sampian (war of sampian) was held in Samuan Tiga temple as a part of series of rituals to commemorate the temple anniversary that had been commenced from Sunday, 4/20/08 up to Thursday, 4/24/08.

As its name suggests, Siat Sampian (war of sampian) is a ritual in which the participants armed with a sampian (a decoration made of woven coconut leaves) attack each other accompanied by hysterical shouts and the smile of joy. As a matter of fact, Siat Sampian is a ritual dance in which the dancers enact a battle of good and evil. As this dance the Siat Sampian dance is performed by two groups of dancers, each group consists of hundreds of dancers; the female group known as ‘permas’ (female servants of the deities) with white cloth and black sarong and ‘parekan’ (male servant of the deities) with all white attires.

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There are several dances which are considered more sacred that others: Rejang, Pasutri, Mendet, Baris Gede and Topeng Pajegan. These are usually performed in the innermost courtyard (Jeroan) of temple. Part of what makes “sacred” is that there is little on no rehearsal of the forms; they are performed for the deities and it is not the compactness of the form that takes precedence in the ritual, but the actual presence of the form.

In the Samuan Tiga Temple of Bedulu, older women called Permas dance Rejang to help purify the temple area.

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