The Balinese New Year (Nyepi)
Most people know of two kinds of calendar systems, the solar system and the lunar system. The solar system, mostly used internationally is based on how many days the earth rotates around the sun, so one year has an average of 365 days. The lunar system (used in some Asian countries is based on the time taken by the moon to rotate around the earth, which is 29days +12 hours+ 44 minutes so that equation times 12 equals 1 year for the lunar system.
Bali uses yet another calendar system, the Wuku, based on the week, there is 30 weeks in one cycle (Balinese Oton) and two otons is one year. so the oton means 210 days therefore in one Balinese year is 420 days.
The Balinese calendar system is used mainly for religious purposes such as to know the auspicious days for the farming, raisin animals starting a business determining the dates of temple ceremonies and making birthday ceremonies (otonan). If you ask a Balinese how old he or she is, they normally know they age according to this system instead of our solar system. So today the 03/03/08 is according to the Balinese system the year of 1930 instead of 2008, they are 78 years behind. It makes you wonder why they always say “ we make antiques"…
Nyepi Day, a silence day to mark Balinese New Year
The main purpose of the Nyepi Day ceremonies is to pray to the God (Hyang Widhi Wasa), wish that HE to clean the universe (bhuwana agung) as well as the 'universe" within us (bhuwana alit). Based on the history of the birth of Saka Year, Nyepi Day also means to be a momentum to increase genuine solidarity and tolerance between people, accept the differences and similarity as natural factor of life and balance life to the positive side. Nyepi is a fantastic day in Bali, everybody has to stay at home in silence and no lights are to be put on. The idea is that one does 't want the bad spirits to come back to the island...
Parade of Ogoh-ogoh greet the Nyepi Day
To greet the Nyepi day, Hindu Society throughout Bali Island conduct a parade of Ogoh-Ogoh (Giant Idol like monsters). On the eve of Nyepi, people start to bang gongs or pieces of wood or cooking pans at home this is done in order to sent all the bad spirits into the streets of the villages. On the evening the grand parade of Ogoh ogoh starts. As all the spirits are already on the streets then the big monsters will certainly scare them and send them away. The parade is joyous and happy, children and adults are involved. The monsters themselves are made in the previous weeks, each village trying to make the most scary ogoh ogoh.
Ogoh Ogoh monsters are colorful monster sculptures, which are made from bamboo frames and paper mache.They are made in the form of creatures of the underworld known to the Balinese as buta-kala. The creatures are based on characters taken from traditional myths and legends, however in modern times many take the form of modern characters, including even people in the media or in the government.
On the preceding day, all traffic is blocked and the Ogoh-Ogoh monsters are paraded around the main streets of the villages, it is like a carnival in the west but here the children are the main focus of the parade. The kids can stay up long and carry their Ogoh Ogoh around. It’s like a reverse beauty competition on who created the most colorful, funny or scary monster. Of course everyone is proud of their creation and the whole proceedings are very noisy and with plenty of drum sounds and screaming and laughing.
This celebration Ogoh-Ogoh is usually conducted one day before Nyepi Day and if you wish to see this annual activity, come to Bali before Nyepi Day between March and April.
Go back to the Ogoh Ogoh pictures...
