Mass ‘Mati Tanpa Pejah’ dance to mark Puputan Badung anniversary

Denpasar — — Around 1,000 dancers are being prepared to stage a large-scale performance titled “Mati Tanpa Pejah” at Puputan Badung I Gusti Ngurah Made Agung Field in Denpasar on Sunday, 20 September 2026, as part of the 120th anniversary commemoration of the 1906 Puputan Badung war, according to the Denpasar Culture Office as reported by local media.

The work is being coordinated by the Denpasar Culture Office as a kolosal, or mass, production that will involve multiple arts studios and communities rather than a single troupe. Officials say the performance will serve as an inauguration event ahead of the public premiere of a film about Puputan Badung.

The Culture Office has described the number of dancers as “around” or “approximately” 1,000, with about five arts studios and communities participating in the choreography and staging. Detailed casting and final participant numbers have not been released.

Performance setting and schedule

According to I Wayan Narta, head of the arts division at the Denpasar Culture Office, the performance will be staged in the open at Puputan Badung I Gusti Ngurah Made Agung Field, using the historic park itself as the backdrop. Audiences are expected to watch with the site’s flagpole and monuments related to Puputan Badung as part of the visual setting.

Local reports state that the official commemoration program on 20 September 2026 is divided into two segments: a formal morning ceremony and the afternoon cultural presentation. The ceremony will take the form of an appel, or civic gathering, followed later by the “Mati Tanpa Pejah” performance as an inauguration before the screening of the Puputan Badung film. Specific start times for the dance work have not been specified in the available reports.

While the title “Mati Tanpa Pejah” appears in coverage of the dance production, related material on the film project refers to a 50-minute dokudrama titled “Puputan Badung 1906: Mati Tan Tumut Pejah,” directed by I Gusti Made Aryadi and produced by the Denpasar Culture Office with Jayagiri Production. That film is scheduled for its first public screening at 19:00 WITA on 20 September 2026 at the same field.

Remembrance rather than celebration

Denpasar officials and cultural leaders consistently describe the Puputan Badung anniversary as a moment of remembrance rather than celebration. The program is framed around honoring the sacrifice of Badung’s leaders and people in 1906 and drawing lessons from the spirit of resistance.

Head of the Denpasar Culture Office Raka Purwantara has said that the theme “Mati Tanpa Pejah” is meant to carry forward the spirit of Puputan Badung into present-day challenges. Narta has similarly emphasized that the commemoration is not an independence or victory celebration but a tribute to wartime struggle and a prompt for reflection.

Officials and commentators link that spirit to contemporary efforts to confront disasters, social problems and governance issues, highlighting Puputan Badung as a historical example of collective resolve. By placing a mass artistic production in the original setting of the event, the organizers aim to differentiate the afternoon program from a conventional civic ceremony while keeping remembrance at the core of the day.

Historical context

Puputan Badung refers to the 20 September 1906 confrontation in Denpasar, when the royal house and people of Badung engaged in a fatal stand against Dutch colonial forces. Local accounts characterize the event as a puputan, a fight to the death, guided by the principle “Mati tan tumut pejah,” commonly interpreted as dying in battle while ensuring that the spirit of struggle does not perish.

The 2026 program marks 120 years since the 1906 war and continues a pattern of annual commemorations combining formal ceremonies, cultural performances and historical storytelling at Puputan Badung I Gusti Ngurah Made Agung Field. In 2026, the combination of the “Mati Tanpa Pejah” mass performance and the evening screening of “Puputan Badung 1906: Mati Tan Tumut Pejah” is intended to revisit the event’s legacy through both live ensemble work and audio-visual reconstruction, while maintaining a focus on remembrance.

Sources

• Tribun-Bali
• Bali Post
• Denpasar City Environment Agency (lh.denpasarkota.go.id)
• Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) – Denpasar
• NusaBali
• Kementerian Agama Kota Denpasar