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Silence Throughout the Exotic Island

By admin on Jul 24, 2009 in Tradition

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Bali as the most visited tourist destination in the world is famous for its culture and tradition. There are many religious and cultural events in Bali which can’t be seen anywhere else but here. The exotic place with beautiful beaches provides you with many cultural ceremonies. Unlike the rest of the cities in Indonesia, Bali has its own calendar system. Bali, which majority of its population believes in Hindu religion, using The saka calendar. The saka calendar has many religious events, and the major festival is Nyepi. Nyepi is held at the final day of the saka year. It falls on the day after the new moon on the ninth month. Nyepi is a unique event. At Nyepi days, there will be total silence throughout the island.

Nyepi is a day to make and keep the balance of nature. On Nyepi day, there is totally no activity – no traffic at all on the roads, no amusement is held the whole day long. No fires are allowed to be lit in observance of the Nyepi and great purification and sacrificial rites are held on the day prior to Nyepi in order to exorcise evil spirits from every corner of Bali. Nyepi really is a celebration observed with total silence.

Nyepi take form in a series of events. Three days before Nyepi, there is Melasti or Mekiyis, or Melis. On these days Balinese people clean the statue of their gods. The ceremony is aimed to clean all nature and its contents and also to take the Amerta (the source for eternal life) from the ocean or other water resources. Three days before Nyepi, all the effigies of the Gods from the entire village temples are taken to the river in long and colorful ceremonies. They are washed by the Neptune of the Balinese Lord, the God Baruna, before being taken back home to their shrines.

At exactly one day before Nyepi, there is Tawur Kesanga. At this day, all villages in Bali hold a large exorcism ceremony at the main village cross road, the meeting place of demons. They make Ogoh-ogoh (the fantastic monsters or evil spirits made of bamboo) for carnival purposes. The Ogoh-ogoh monsters symbolize the evil spirits surrounding the environment which have to be got rid of from our lives. The carnivals themselves are held all over Bali following sunset. Bleganjur, Balinese gamelan music accompanies the procession. In the evening, the Hindus celebrating Ngerupuk, they making noises and light burning torches and set fire to the Ogoh-ogoh in order to get the Bhuta Kala, evil spirits, out of our lives.

Right after Nyepi, there is Ngembak Geni. Ngembak is the day when Catur Berata Penyepian is over and Hindus societies usually visit to forgive each other and doing the Dharma Canthi. Dharma Canthi are activities of reading ancient scripts containing songs and lyrics. Nyepi is an interesting series of religious festivals. Witnessing this festival in progress really is a valuable experience you will not get elsewhere.