Yet it doesn’t prevent them from flocking to a traditional art performance featuring the story.
The storyline is quite simple. Jayapangus married Kang Ching Wei despite the court high priest’s warning. The priest argued that the gods would not bless the couple. Soon a massive flood destroyed the palace, forcing Jayapangus to relocate to Balingkang, near present day Kintamani.
Seeking the blessing of the gods, Jayapangus climbed Gunung Batur to meditate. There he met and seduced a beautiful princess, Dewi Danu. Their amorous relationship brought a son named Mayadenawa (literally, the demon of illusion).
Worried about the fate of her husband, Kang Ching Wei ascended the mountain only to find that the king had a new wife. In a fit of rage, Dewi Danu killed both the king and his foreign queen. The grief-stricken people of Balingkang begged her to resurrect their leaders. Dewi Danu agreed on one condition: both would be revived in the form of barong landung (tall wooden effigies). The king would become Jero Gede, a black effigy with fangs, while Kang Ching Wei would be Jero Luh, a light-skinned lady effigy with slanted eyes.
To this day, villages across the island still parade the sacred barong landung to ward off disasters and plagues.