The Connecting Line between Balinese Geringsing Weaving and Indian Patola Weaving

Maret 14, 2024 Redaksi

BULETIN TEKSTIL.COM/ Jakarta -In Tenganan village, Bali, the double ikat weaving technique is a traditional method of designing and weaving cloth. It creates a very attractive and neat woven decorative appearance by tying and dying threads in both longitudinal and transverse directions. Weaving outcomes possessing this attribute are referred to as Gringsing, or Geringsing Weaving. Sing means no and Gering signifies sick in Balinese. As a result, it is thought that this fabric can prevent illness or heal the unwell. This term has nothing whatsoever to do with the name of the Gringsing batik motif found in Kediri, East Java’s Panji fairy story. Thus, it is important to distinguish between the two as they emerged in distinct ages.

Owing to the distinctive characteristics of Balinese Geringsing Weaving, the location of this weaving, known as Pageringsingan, is situated in Tenganan Village, one of the island of Bali’s oldest villages.

Geringsing Weaving is the name of the classic double ikat weaving from Tenganan, Bali.

A long-ago legend held by the locals claims that Dewa Indra, the protector and life-teacher of the Tenganan people, visited Tenganan village. Awestruck by the nighttime sky’s beauty, he explained it to the people of his choosing—the Tenganan people—through woven motifs. The gods imparted knowledge to women on how to weave Geringsing cloth, which captures and preserves the splendor of the sun, moon, stars, and other celestial regions.

According to Brigita Hauser et al.’s “Banesse Textiles” (1991) and Urs Ramseyer’s “Clothing, Ritual and Society in Tenganan Pegeringsingan Bali” (1984), the Tenganan people were originally immigrants from India who were Dewa Indra’s fellow believers. These immigrants most likely separately devised the double ikat technique in Tenganan and carried it with them via shipping from Andhra Pradesh, India.

Writings by Urs Ramseyer are cited regarding the purported Tenganan, Bali, origin of Geringsing Weaving.

The first person from the West to find these “remarkable fabrics” was a Dutch explorer named W.0.J. Nieuwenkamp, who made the discovery in the early 1900s while touring the prince of Tabanan’s palace. After learning that the only place in Karangasem (now Amlapura) to find woven cloth was the isolated village of Tenganan Pegeringsingan, he hurried to look into the matter with the help of a prince. They traveled 17 kilometers west along the coast and then inland along the hills towards Mount Agung, the volcano. After walking for hours, he eventually entered the village through a small gate. The village’s row of apartment buildings was encircled by walls and gates and was tucked away in a U-shaped valley. One of the reasons Geringsing Weaving has received so much attention from other researchers is because of the outcomes of this expedition.

Geringsing weaving has a uniform design principle that necessitates dividing the surface area into two corresponding “heads” at both ends. There is also a center panel with numerous motif variants, as can be seen from observation, structure, shape, and color. For instance, groupings of vertically and horizontally oriented geometric and abstract floral motifs, such as geringsing pepare, geringsing jekan jasa, and geringsing batun tuung, can be repeated throughout the central space.

An illustration of the “geringsing pepare, geringsing jekan ready, geringsing batun tuung” motif structure.

There are a few limitations while weaving Geringsing, such as:

Weaving is temporarily discontinued in the event of a death in the family. Only following the mekelud ikan ritual may work resume.
For the ladies in this circumstance, weaving labor is stopped right away and resumes three days later along with hair washing.
Restrictions on weaving begin with the spinning of cotton into thread and continue through dying, drying, and weaving.