The Canoli is a woman who possesses indigenous knowledge and is the guardian of the sacred banquet in agrarian Sundanese communities. This research uses a qualitative paradigm with ethnographic methods. The concept of Levi-Strauss’ culinary triangle method is used to explain this. The results demonstrated that during the process of cooking rice, it is transformed from the raw state to the cooked state. This process is symbolic, representing the transformation from nature to culture. Based on the binary opposition between raw and cooked, the role of Canolis as guardians of sacred food can be explained. Canoli has legitimacy in the ritual of honouring Sang Hyang Sri. Her role gives her a high social status and respect. Canoli’s role is to act as a ritual intermediary for the belief in Sang Hyang Sri. Ritual offerings to Sang Hyang Sri can maintain social balance, reinforce hierarchy, and strengthen community ties.
Adimihardja, Kusnaka (1992) Kasepuhan yang tumbuh di atas yang luruh. [Kasepuhan that grows upon that which has fallen.] Bandung: Tarsito.
Afif, Syarif (2020) “Kebudayaan Kampung Adat Banceuy Desa Sanca Kecamatan Ciater Kabupaten Subang”. [Culture of Banceuy traditional village, Sanca Village, Ciater District, Subang Regency.] Al-Tsaqâfa: Jurnal Ilmiah Peradaban Islam 17, 1, 43–57. Available online at
https://journal.uinsgd.ac.id/index.php/jat/article/view/9004 (Accessed on 23.09.2025).
Somantri, Ria Andayani and Rini Intari Trenasih (2006) Upacara tradisional di Kampung Urug. [Traditional ceremony in Urug Village.] Bogor: Disbudpar Kabupaten Bogor.
Anwar, Etty N. (2009) “Peran Candoli dalam perhelatan (suatu fenomena keyakinan orang Sunda)”. [The role of Candoli in the event (a phenomenon of Sundanese belief).] In Diversity, Continuity, and Changes. Prosiding International Conference on Indonesian Studies, 425–434. Available online at
https://icssis.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/2729072009_39.pdf (Accessed on 23.09.2025).
Atja and Saleh Danasasmita (1981) Sanghyang Siksakanda ng Karesian. [The Holy Siksakanda of Karesian.] Bandung: Proyek Pengembangan permuseuman Jawa Barat.
Danadibrata, R. A. (2006) Kamus Basa Sunda. [Sundanese dictionary.] Bandung: Kiblat Buku Utama.
Descola, Philippe (2009) “The two natures of Lévi-Strauss”. In B. Wiseman, ed. The Cambridge companion to Lévi-Strauss, 103–117. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL9780521846301.006
Desiana, Fauziah Ismi and Teguh Ratmanto (2018) “Komunikasi transendental Candoli dalam ritual adat Sunda (studi etnografi komunikasi pada komunikasi transendental Candoli dalam ritual adat Sunda di kota Bandung)”. [Transcendental communication of Candoli in Sundanese traditional rituals (ethnographic study of communication on transcendental communication of Candoli in Sundanese traditional rituals in Bandung City).] Prosiding Hubungan Masyarakat 4, 1, 12–17. Available online
https://www.academia.edu/65131707/Komunikasi_Transendental_Candoli_dalam_Ritual_Adat_Sunda (Accessed on 23.09.2025).
Erndl, Kathleen M. (2007) “The play of the mother: possession and power in Hindu women’s goddess rituals”. In T. Pintchman, ed. Women’s lives, women’s rituals in the Hindu tradition,149–158. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195177060.003.0009
Graf, Karin and Elisa Mescoli (2020) “Special issue introduction: from nature to culture? Lévi-Strauss’ legacy and the study of contemporary foodways”. Food, Culture and Society 23, 4, 465–471.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15528014.2020.1773692
Grapard, Allan G. (2021) “Japanese food offerings”. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 48, 1, 165–185.
https://doi.org/10.18874/jjrs.48.1.2021.165-185
Heryana, Agus (2012) “Mitologi perempuan Sunda”. [Sundanese women’s mythology.] Patanjala 4, 2, 156–169.
https://doi.org/10.30959/patanjala.v4i1.129
Holil, Munawar (2020) “Myths of Nyi Pohaci Sanghyang Sri on Sundanese ethnic: efforts to reconstruct the values of environmental conservation”. In IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 469, 012054, 1–6.
https://doi.org/doi:10.1088/1755-1315/469/1/012054
Kalsum (2010) “Kearifan lokal dalam Wawacan Sulanjana: tradisi menghormati padi pada masyarakat Sunda di Jawa Barat, Indonesia”. [Local wisdom in Wawacan Sulanjana: tradition of respecting rice in Sundanese society in West Java, Indonesia.] Sosiohumanika 3, 1, 73–94. Available online at
http://www.sosiohumanika-jpssk.com/sh_files/File/3.Kalsum.sosio.may.2010.pdf (Available online at 23.09.2025).
Kartika, Ni Gusti Ayu (2021) “Fungsi dan peranan perempuan Hindu dalam pelaksanaan yadnya di Bali”. [The function and role of Hindu women in carrying out yadnya in Bali.] Pangkaja: Jurnal Agama Hindu 24, 2, 194. Available online at
http://ojs.uhnsugriwa.ac.id/index.php/PJAH/article/view/2903 (Accessed on 05.10.2025).
https://doi.org/10.25078/pkj.v24i2.2616
Kepirianto, Catur, Siti Mariam, and Vanessa Febe Purnomo (2021) “Food offering culture at Chinese rituals in Semarang Chinatown coastal community”. E3S Web of Conferences, 317, 01028.
https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202131701028
Krisnawati, Ekaning, Eva Tuckyta Sari Sujatna, Rosaria Mita Amalia, Ypsi Soeria Soemantri, and Asno Pamungkas (2024) “The farming ritual and the rice metaphor: how people of Kasepuhan Sinarresmi worship rice”. Cogent Arts & Humanities11, 1, 2338329.
https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2024.2338329
Lee, Chang Hwan, Yong Kim, Yong Suk Kim, and Young Yun (2018) “Ancestral ritual food of Korean jongka: Historical changes of the table setting”. Journal of Ethnic Foods 5, 2, 121–132.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jef.2018.06.001
Lévi-Strauss, Claude (1969) The raw and the cooked. Transl. by Doreen Weightman. (Introduction to a science of mythology, 1.) New York: Harper & Row. (French original, 1964.)
Lullulangi, Maryam and Onesimus Sampebua (2017) “Tongkonan in Kalimbuang Bori and its built environment in the North Toraja regency of South Sulawesi, Indonesia”. Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences 12, Special Issue 9, 8673–8678. Available online at
https://eprints.unm.ac.id/16439/14/ArtikelJurnalInternasionalBereputasi-TongkonaninKalimbuangBorianditsBuilt....pdf(Accessed on 23.09.2025).
Lynch, Kathryn L. (2007) “From tavern to pie shop: the raw, the cooked, and the rotten in fragment 1 of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales”. Exemplaria 19, 1, 117–138.
https://doi.org/10.1179/175330707X203264
Marwanti, Tri Mulyani and Nandang Kusnadi (2013) “Partisipasi Perempuan Dalam Upacara Adat ʻSeren Taun’ (Studi kasus pada masyarakat Kasepuhan Sinar Resmi Desa Sirna Resmi, Kecamatan Cisolok, Kabupaten Sukabumi Provinsi Jawa Barat”. [Women’s participation in the ʻSeren Taun’ traditional ceremony (a case study in the Kasepuhan Sinar Resmi Community, Sirna Resmi Village, Cisolok District, Sukabumi Regency, West Java Province)] PEKSOS: Jurnal Ilmiah Pekerjaan Sosial 12, 2. Available online at
https://jurnal.poltekesos.ac.id/index.php/peksos/article/view/24 (Accessed on 23.09.2025).
Muanas, Dadang (1998) Arsitektur tradisional Daerah Jawa Barat. [Traditional architecture of West Java.] R. Abu, ed. Bandung: Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Jawa Barat.
Murcott, Anne (2018) “Studying food choice in its social and cultural contexts: approaches from a social anthropological perspective”. In Anne Murcott, ed. The Nation’s Diet: the social science of food choice. London and New York: Routledge.
Negley, Susan C. (2014) “The coniunctio gastronomique: reflections on the process of individuation in culinary terms”. Psychological Perspectives 57, 4, 384–402.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00332925.2014.962938
Noorduyn, J. and A. Teeuw (2009) Tiga pesona Sunda kuna. [Three charms of ancient Sunda.] Jakarta: Pustaka Jaya.
Nurti, Yevita (2017) “Kajian makanan dalam perspektif antropologi”. [Food studies in anthropological perspective.] Jurnal Antropologi: Isu-Isu Sosial Budaya 19, 1, 1–10.
https://doi.org/10.25077/jantro.v19.n1.p1-10.2017
Robidoux, Michael A. and Alex Stratas (2022) “The Inuit’s offer to Canada’s Black Governor General: food, power, and the deconstruction of Lévi-Strauss’ ‘Culinary Triangle’”. International Journal of Canadian Studies, 60, 21–39.
https://doi.org/10.3138/ijcs.60.x.21
Rosidi, Ajip (2000) Ensiklopedi Sunda. [Sundanese encyclopedia.] Jakarta: Pustaka Jaya.
Rostiyati, Ayi, Kholis Sofianto, Adeng, Heri Erwantoro, Rini Andayani, and Hilda Tismara (2024) “Interpreting Sundanese ritual practices at the mikul lodong ceremony in Cipatat, West Bandung, Indonesia”. Cogent Social Sciences 10, 1, 1–15.
https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2024.2334091
Setiarto, Raden Haryo Bimo and Vika Tresnadiana Herlina (2024) “Ketupat: a culinary heritage of Indonesia in Eid Al-Fitrtradition”. Journal of Ethnic Foods 11, 45.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s42779-024-00259-x
Sheshadri, K. G. (2015) “Some rice cooking rituals as gleaned from ancient Indian literature and culture”. Man in India 95, 3, 547–551. Available online at
https://serialsjournals.com/abstract/58479_14.pdf (Accessed on 23.09.2025).
Soeganda, R. Akip Prawira (1982) Upacara adat di Pasundan. [Traditional Ceremonies in Pasundan.] Bandung: Sumur Bandung.
Suganda, Ki Ukis (2013) “Komunitas masyarakat adat Kasepuhan Ciptagelar”. [Kasepuhan Ciptagelar indigenous community.] In Emilianus Ola Kleden, Yuyun Indradi, and Liz Chidley, eds. Hutan untuk masa depan: pengelolaan hutan adat di tengah arus perubahan dunia. [Forests for the future: managing indigenous forests in a changing world.] Jakarta: Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara; Greenside Farmhouse, Hallbankgate, Cumbria: Down to Earth. Available online at
https://www.downtoearth-indonesia.org/sites/downtoearth-indonesia.org/files/R-Pertama.pdf (Accessed on 23.09.2025). (English ed., 2009.)
Sultana, Farhana (2013) “Ethnicity and healing rituals in Gwadar, Balochistan, Pakistan”. Journal of the Middle East and Africa 4,2, 169–185.
https://doi.org/10.1080/21520844.2013.831020
Sumartias, Suwandi, Andi Alimuddin, Priyo Subekti, Iriana Bakti, Aat Ruchiat Nugraha, Susie Perbawasari, and Rosnandar Romli (2019) “Tarawangsa as a traditional communication media in the information dissemination based on local wisdom”. ibrary Philosophy and Practice (e-journal), no. 3715.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/3715 (Accessed on 11.10.2025).
Thircuir, Solenn (2020) “From culture to nature? The raw food diet and the ideal of natural eating”. Food, Culture and Society 23, 4, 506–522.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15528014.2020.1773672
Wessing, Robert (1978) Cosmology and social behavior in a west Javanese settlement. (Papers in International Studies Southeast Asia Series, 47.) Ohio: Ohio University Center for International Studies.
Van Daele, Wim (2018) “Food as the Holographic Condensation of Life in Sri Lankan Rituals”. Ethnos. Journal of Anthropology 83, 4, 645–664.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00141844.2017.1314309
