Revealing the Meaning of Cost in the Metatah Ceremony of the Balinese Hindu Community on Lombok Island

Ni Made Yuli Andriningsih (Universitas Mataram)
Ayudia Sokarina (Universitas Mataram)

Formosa Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (FJMR)
Vol. 4 No. 2 (2025): February 2025

This research aims to reveal the meaning of cost in the Metatah ceremony of the Balinese Hindu community on Lombok Island. This study adopts an interpretive paradigm with an ethnographic methodology, collecting data through passive observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation from Balinese Hindus in Mataram City who have performed the Metatah ceremony. The findings indicate that Metatah costs hold diverse meanings, reflecting cultural and social values. These costs are seen as lascarya (sincere) and non-binding, as fulfillment of the obligations or debts of parents to their children, as spiritual investment for children and as bond of brotherhood. This study provides insight that Metatah costs have a non-materialistic, humanistic, and spiritual meaning, in contrast to the modern materialistic concept of cost.