The Kecak uses no gamelan, no drums, no melody - only the human voice. A circle of more than fifty men chant "cak-cak-cak" in interlocking rhythms, building a wall of sound that carries the whole story. The form you see today was shaped in the 1930s, worked up from a much older trance ritual called sanghyang, which is why it feels far older than it is.
The performance follows the Ramayana: Prince Rama's wife Sita is taken by the demon king Ravana, and the white monkey general Hanuman comes to the rescue. The climax comes when Hanuman is set alight and dances barefoot through burning coconut husks - real fire, kicked across the ground. From a seat near the front you'll feel the heat.
What separates Kecak from every other Balinese dance is that there is no gamelan and no conductor: the chanters split a single rhythm between them, each group landing on a different beat - the same interlocking pattern a gamelan plays, but sung. They sit bare-chested in poleng, the black-and-white check that stands for the balance of good and evil, and most are villagers rather than professional performers. It runs about an hour at sunset, and arriving early gets you a closer seat.
Your entrance ticket and return transport from Ubud are already included - nothing extra to pay for the activity itself.
We pick you up from your hotel or villa in the Ubud area at the time you choose. Your driver shares their details the day before.
Comfortable clothes and shoes suited to the activity, sunscreen, and a change of clothes if things might get wet or muddy.
Book and pay online by card or PayPal; a $10 deposit holds your date and you settle the rest at the end. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
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