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Loud gamelan music can be heard from the Kalirejo village’s hall in Undaan sub-district, Kudus district, Central Java. The gamelan was played to serenade a pair of barongans battling each other, trying to strike one another. Occassionally, the two barongans aim at the audience to spread the feelings of fear and excitement. The audience was seen chuckling and laughing while watching the kuda lumping performance that ensued. The act ended after a pair of kuda lumping performers devoured pieces of shattered glass.

This was the art of barongan performed by the Paguyuban Barongan Treno Budoyo. This art was banned for 30 years during the New Order regime as it was deemed to be linked to the Indonesian Communist Party. Barongan is a traditional art form that has been popular for hundreds of years. Head of Paguyuban Barongan Treno Budoyo, Riyono, said this tradition was left behind by ancestors during the Majapahit Kingdom epoch. After former President Soeharto’s downfall in 1998, villagers have attempted to revive this art. The shape of a barongan is similar to barongsai, having the head of a lion or tiger. In order to make the performance seem livelier, it is serenaded with beats from traditional musical instruments such as kempul, gongs, selompret, and kendang. A barongan act also includes a kuding lumping performance.

The Paguyuban Barongan Treno Budoyo group comprises 22 players. One show can take up to four to five hours with a fee of only Rp3 million.

"Players can earn up to Rp50,000 at the most," said Riyono. They usually appear during special festivities or Independence Day celebrations on August 17.

"We are invited (to perform) up to five times a month now, that’s great," he said. "Sometimes, we don’t even get to perform once a month."

Yet Riyono never gave up. The art of barongan has already become a part of his life.