Metatah or "Mesangih" or "Mepandes" is a meaningful tooth-cutting ceremony to discover the true human nature that is detached from the shackles of darkness from the influence of Sad Ripu in man. The term metatah is associated with a procedure of performing the cutting ceremony of the two upper tusks and The four incisors on the upper jaw are carved three times symbolically before the grinding of their teeth is done further. Apparently from that it appears the term matatah.
cutting teeth that are part of manusa yadnya as symbolic done on people who have stepped on adult as mentioned in summary yadnya ceremony, all that can be seen from physical changes of the person concerned. In women can be done After getting the first menstruation, and for men usually after a change of voice. That does not mean that this ceremony should be done after the change, but they will also see other factors such as good days or adult ayu and most importantfinansialnya.Pada generally in Bali will perform this ceremony after the youngest child reaches adulthood. So they can do it together with all the children.
The purpose of this ceremony is hindu believed to minimize the negative nature of the person concerned,Does not mean that after this ceremony done the person will be good.
Going back to each other.Teeth to be cut the upper front teeth amounted to 6 pieces, ranging from canine teeth, where the canines are symbols of greed / greed.
Metatah ceremony is usually can be coupled with ceremony Ngaben or wedding (pawiwahan) conducted by the pastor / sulinggih.
This ceremony also mentioned contains a deep understanding for the life of Hindus, namely:
- A change of behavior to become a real human being who has been able to control himself from the temptation of sadripu influence.
- Fulfill the duty of his parents to his son to discover the true nature of man
- To meet again in Heaven (swah loka) between the child and the parents after both died.
From this understanding it is possible that the tooth-cutting ceremony is an important ceremony in the life of the Hindus, because it means eliminating the feces of the self (nyupat) to find the essence of the true man and apart from the shackles of darkness from the influence of Sad Ripu in man.
Lontar Atmaprasangsa mentions that,
“If not to cut tooth ceremony then the spirit will get punishment from Yamadipati betara in hell (Candragomuka crater) that is biting base of bamboo petung. Implementation of this ceremony is a parent's obligation to his son, so that his son became a real man who is called Dharmaning Darma-Rena Ring Son.”
So that parents in Hinduism trying to fulfill their obligations to their children by carrying out cutting ceremony. In order to repay the services of his parents then the child is obliged Pitra Yadnya or Ngaben ceremony when his parents died, in accordance with Dharmaning Putra Ring Rama Rena. Devote to his parents according to Son Sesana's lesson.
