Teeth filing Ritual in Bali
This ritual is known as metatah or mepandes, which means “to chisel / carve”. Metatah is one of the mandatory rituals in a person’s life, along with other traditions known as “Manusa Yadnya”, which include celebrations of prenatal rites, birth ceremonies, marriage, and cremation. All rituals are accompanying the Balinese through the different life cycles and phases. Every Balinese teenager has to do it, and it’s one of the very important rituals in the life of a Balinese.
The recommended time for this ceremony a person is between 6 to 18 years old, but the perfect time for girls is after their first menstruation. Some Balinese nowadays perform this ritual later in life, as long as they have not gotten married. If a person passes away before performing this ritual, the family will perform the ceremony on the corpse before cremation.
The ritual is performed to remove the sharp edges of the canine teeth which symbolize the evil traits of a person.
Why do the Balinese file their teeth?
In Bali, teeth filing is a cultural procedure have the symbolical purpose to reduce ‘evil’ traits such as greed, desire, and rage, which they refer to as “Sad Ripu”.
In that sense it is a way control the evil that is present in a person and create a balance between the evil and the goodness in a human being.
It is also considered as esthetically beautiful. Bali Hinduism honors Dewa Kama or also known as Sang Hyang Semara Ratih, the God of beauty. Dewa Kama is believed to bring success in life, cure sickness, chase away evil and bless their worshippers with the beauty of flowers. However, beyond the implications of Hinduism; the Balinese believe in the tradition of filing down canine teeth for aesthetic reasons.