Celebrating New Year the Balinese way

Bali stands out among Indonesia's more than 17,000 islands, becoming a world-renowned tourist paradise with its unique "distinctiveness." While Islam is prevalent throughout the country, Bali is the only island where 90% of the population follows Hinduism. This is clearly evident in their daily lives and religious practices.

Melasti: A Cleansing Ritual Before the New Year

Melasti is a series of rituals held over three days, leading up to Nyepi Day – the Balinese New Year. The purpose of the festival is to purify the souls of people and deities from impurities and sins.

In Balinese belief, the universe (Bhuwana Agung) and the human soul (Bhuwana Alit) exist within each other, and natural bodies of water, such as springs, seas, and lakes, are the "source of life" (Tirta Amerta). Therefore, celebrating Mass beside a body of water can help purify both the soul and the surrounding world, bringing purity from the life-giving source "Tirta Amerta".

On the festival day, each person in the village wears their finest white traditional attire, brings offerings, and gathers at their village's Banjar to carry the idol ("pratima"), and parades to a larger Banjar in the region. All the idols from the villages are gathered here for a ceremony before being taken to the water source.

As scheduled, perhaps that same afternoon or the following morning, everyone once again gathered to carry all the statues and parade to the water source—the beach—to perform the most important purification ritual. Even now, we still remember the exhilarating feeling of the festival, the waves of people in traditional white attire, the colorful Umbul Umbul flags fluttering in the strong sea breeze, and the sacred sounds of gongs and the prayers of the paraders.

For them, this is not simply a traditional ritual, but a profound belief, a deep faith nurtured from infancy to old age. Before going, we had read some information and done some preliminary research, but only by seeing it firsthand could we fully appreciate the solemnity and sacredness of the festival in the lives of the local people.

Each region and village has its own way of performing the ritual, but from what we observed, there are still some common points. Throughout the ceremony, people take turns going to the sea, bringing offerings, praying, and collecting water to bring back. An altar is placed near the water source, and everyone sits facing it to pray with the "master of ceremonies."

Representatives from each village will gather at the water source to collect water for purification of the "pratima," then they will use flowers to sprinkle water on the people in a procession. At the end of the ceremony, everyone will parade to the sea once more, carrying the idol, and collect water to bring back purity from the "source of life." The Pratima will once again gather at the main temple to be kept in the most sacred place.

The Ngrupuk ritual - the "Ogoh-ogoh" Monster Parade on New Year's Eve.

According to locals, Ogoh-ogoh originates from the pronunciation of "ogah-ogah"—meaning "shake vigorously" in Balinese, literally describing their ritual of parading monsters through the streets.

The "ogoh ogoh" are often created in the shape of "Buhta Kala," which represents evil spirits, Rakshasa (or "La Sat" in Vietnamese), or creatures that disrupt human life. Sometimes, people also use the imagery of mythical monsters such as dragons, Garuda, or Hindu deities to build these models. We even saw some villages building statues of the elephant god Ganesha, the son of Shiva. It is believed that all evil is absorbed into the Ogoh-ogoh, restoring purity to the entire island of Bali.

Every year, about one to two months before New Year's Day, each village must come up with ideas and work together to create "ogoh-ogoh" figures using paper pulp, bamboo, and other lightweight materials so they can be easily moved. The scale depends on each village's budget. Some villages make tiny figures, while others erect statues several stories high. It's not surprising that some of these monsters cost up to $1,000 in total, including food and drink allowances for those involved in the creation.

The parade takes place on New Year's Eve, the night before Nyepi. The biggest parades are in Depansar and Ubud – Bali's arts center – where the festivities are held with great fanfare. This time we participated in Ubud. Next time we'll try Depansar because that's the "origin" of the festival. They even hold competitions between the Banjar (villages) to choose the most beautiful Ogoh-ogoh with the most impressive performances to show during Ngrupuk.

Around 7 PM, as the sun begins to set, the sounds of trumpets, drums, gongs, and cymbals resound, and the Ogoh-Ogoh figures are paraded into the center of Ubud, passing through the Ubud market, to the "Ubud Palace" intersection, and then turning to gather at the Ubud football field. From there, they are paraded back to the palace intersection and perform. Each banjars brings a scene depicting the story of the Ogoh-Ogoh they created. Although we didn't understand the language, we couldn't take our eyes off the gestures and movements of the performers and the melodies of the songs sung by the children. Most villages depict battles between the forces of Good and Evil. The Ogoh-Ogoh figures are accompanied by lights, smoke, sometimes fire, and the intense sounds of the young men carrying the statues as they are lifted and spun around at the intersection. They fight fiercely, and the audience cheers. There were villages where people were so excited they were shaking their heads so hard they could fly off. Then they cheered for good to have triumphed over evil, bringing peace to the people.

The lively, sacred atmosphere lasts until midnight. The "ogoh-ogoh" statues are brought back to the village, where, according to tradition, they are burned to ward off evil spirits from the lives of the peaceful Balinese people. However, nowadays, people keep these statues for decoration or to sell because they are quite expensive to produce. It is rumored that the American-Canadian director James Cameron attended the festival and bought many Ogoh-ogoh statues to use and to inspire his famous "Avatar" characters.

The Day of Silence “Nyepi”

If you attend the festival in Bali on this day, please note the following *DO NOT* do things within 24 hours (6 AM on Nyepi Day until 6 AM the following day):

Points to note during the Nyepi festival:

- DO NOT go out. All residents and tourists must strictly comply with this requirement. You cannot check out of your hotel on that day. Pecalang (community police) will be out on the streets and conducting checks regularly.

- NO making noise. Even when you're in the hotel, you shouldn't be making loud noises or running around in the hotel grounds.

- No shops or restaurants will be open on this day, not even in hotels; everything will be basic, or they may not even offer food. You should check beforehand and bring your own supplies. Note that convenience stores will be very crowded on New Year's Eve and close at 10 PM, so you should buy your groceries in advance.

- No transportation. Even the airport will be closed for 24 hours. No engines are allowed to operate on the entire island of Bali and its constituent islands, such as Nusa Pendia.

- NO Internet. First of all, 3G and 4G will be blocked by the government. Whether or not there's Wi-Fi depends on the hotel/area you're staying in. Where we stayed, there was absolutely no internet connection!

According to tradition, this is the day when the people of Bali reflect on what has happened in the past year. Meditation is the main activity of the 24 hours of Nyepi. After the New Year's Eve (Ngrupuk), as we mentioned above, people burn "ogoh-ogoh" statues to destroy evil spirits; however, it is believed that these spirits will not completely die but will return to the village on New Year's Day. Therefore, people will not leave their homes, nor make noise, and will not use electrical appliances. When the evil spirit arrives, it will find no life in the village, think it is a dead village, and fly away, leaving behind a peaceful and beautiful Bali.

Melasti and Nyepi are celebrated according to the Hindu calendar, so the dates change annually. This year, according to the Saka calendar, Melasti will be held from March 4-6, 2019, and Nyepi will take place from 6:00 AM on March 7, 2019 to 6:00 AM on March 8, 2019. Come to Bali to enjoy the "light meals, soft conversations, and graceful laughter" and learn more about this unique culture!

And finally, we invite readers to enjoy the impressive video created by Wanderlust Dreamers about this unique festival.

About Wanderlust Dreamers:

- Duck Tran (Duc Tran) moved from Hanoi to Saigon 10 years ago and currently works in graphic design, filmmaking, and photography. After quitting his full-time job, Duc is pursuing his passion for travel, documenting stories about people and places he visits through images and videos. The simple things in life and people always inspire him. He is fluent in English and is learning Japanese. Instagram: @ducktran27

Ted Doan (Quan Doan) lives in Saigon and has worked in the field of human rights and labor for over 5 years. Quan is passionate about work related to protecting people, the environment, and understanding culture. With an excellent memory and mathematical skills, Quan can plan, manage expenses, and share detailed experiences about his trips. He graduated with a degree in English and can speak basic Chinese. Instagram: @tedhuahua

- Website:https://www.wanderfuldreamers.com

Wanderful Dreamers