Usada Buduh, to treat mental illness?!

The island of Bali, which is famous for its enchanting natural beauty to the ends of the world, also has a rich and varied cultural heritage, one of which is usada. Usada is a traditional Balinese medicine that uses spices as healing ingredients and uses techniques that have been passed down from generation to generation. Of the various types of usada, one that attracts attention is Usada Buduh.

Usada Buduh is a traditional Balinese healing practice that can treat mental illness using herbal concoctions, mantras and special meditation ceremonies that focus on the physical and spiritual. There are several types of mental illness that have different characteristics and different treatment methods, but overall the herbal ingredients use mulung coconut mixed with various other spices.

One example of a mental illness characterized by crying day and night while calling out someone's name, this disease can be treated by giving a mixed herbal concoction of mulung coconut shoots and young coconut roots, 2 red onion bottoms, 2 fennel seeds, black sticky rice, mixed and drunk. Likewise, mental illnesses that have the characteristic of going here and there, or what is known as cabinteha, can be treated by giving herbal concoctions with a mixture of mulung coconut with betel leaves, candlenuts, ginger and several other spices.

Apart from the mental illnesses above, there are also mental illnesses which have the characteristics of being fierce towards everyone, making it uncomfortable to see or interact with other people. This mental illness can be treated by dripping a mixed herbal concoction of old betel leaves, coriander and galangal into the nose and ears and don't forget to rub the dregs of the herbal concoction all over the body.

Betel Leaves (Photo Source: Editorial Collection)

However, the treatment does not only involve giving herbal concoctions, of course it is equipped with mantras. The mantra in question is a prayer in Balinese belief which is usually said at the same time as meditation, where the language of the mantra is spoken in Balinese Sanskrit.

One of the most frequently used mantras is "Ong edan edan anama swaha waras" which means "O God, may this madness be cured." However, apart from herbal concoctions and mantras, meditation techniques are also very necessary for treating this mental illness. One of the meditations or methods used is the Cleansing Ceremony (Melukat).

Cleansing Ceremony (Melukat) (Photo Source: Editorial Collection)

The Cleansing Ceremony (Melukat) is very important in the treatment of mental illness. Where in this ceremony, the body will be bathed or purified in holy water or flower water accompanied by prayers or mantras to cleanse the spirit of negative energies.

Usada Buduh is one of the many usada in Bali. As time goes by which becomes more and more advanced day by day, usada buduh has become one of the ancestral legacies that must be maintained and preserved.