Junjungan Kecak at Pura Dalem Taman Kaja

One of the best Kecak Dance performance in Ubud and believed as the authentic ones. The show is held every Monday at Pura Dalem Taman Kaja, nearby Junjungan Village. The show is amazing and very fascinating. Rings of men chant in a trance as the story unfolds in front of you. All of the dancers and actors are people in the local community who are served in the temple.

Kecak Dance is one of the most famous Balinese dance performance created based on the ancient Sanghyang trance rituals which developed in the 1930s. It is remarkably known by the formation of the dancers sitting in a circle while chanting "chuck-chuck" which is similar to the sound of chattering monkeys. Male dancer predominantly did this dance, but today there is also another version of Kecak dance by female dancers. The story behind this dance is about Prince Rama, the heir of the Ayodhya Kingdom, and his wife Sita, has been banished by his father, the King Dasaratha because Rama's stepmother has deceived him. The story begun when Rama and Sita escaped into the forest of Dandaka. They didn't realize if they were watched by the demon Rahwana, the King of Alengka, who wanted to make Sita to be his wife because of her incomparable beauty. Rahwana sent his prime minister, Marica, to play a trick on Sita so that they can kidnap her. Marica has a magical power and turned himself into a golden deer, and runs around in the forest so that he can get Sita's attention and finally Rahwana managed to kidnap Sita. After that the rescue mission started, Prince Rama also got a help by Hanoman (the monkey-like creature) to fight the evil King Ravana and to get the Princess Sita back.

In Junjungan Village Ubud the show of this colossal dance is divided into five acts which are:

The first act is when Sita saw the golden deer; she was so enchanted by it; then she asked Rama to capture it for her. Rama went after the deer and instructed Laksamana (his brother) to stay behind and protected Sita. Suddenly Sita vaguel...