SILENT DAY (NYEPI)

Bali is wellknown as an island with alot of uniqueness. The culture which based on Hindu religion and the mixture of ancient Java and Bali tradition, is so richful. This Hindu Bali culture, as a minority in Indonesia, has a huge value of impressive ritual and tradition. The Balinesse have their own calendar. With its complicated and sophisticated Lunar and Solar plus Wuku System, the rituals occur almost every day.

One of the rituals is Nyepi Holiday (The Silent Day). It occurs in the Ninth Month (in Bali Calendar System), or usually in March. This year, it occurs on 5th March. Before the Nyepi Day, the people have mecaru Tawur Agung (the ritual of Purification). In this ritual, they make an offering to the Bhutakala, performed the Ogoh-ogoh in the night before Nyepi. The creature of Ogoh-ogoh is a symbol of evil. This performance means a symbol of Satisfying the evil, trap them inside the Ogoh-ogoh, then burn it until the spirit of the evil be vanished.

When the Nyepi day, all arround the island is so silence, there are no outdoor activity. They have Brata Panyepian with no Fire, no Going Out, No Work, No Entertainment. Even the airplane is not allowed to fly.In the night, there's no light, so the night is the darkest night in the year, even they can't see their own nose. The Nyepi day means the purification for the world and the little one (the soul), as a New Year, The Saka Year. This Year is the Saka Year of 1933. So, if we talk about saving the world by energy saving, Bali did it along before and do it every year, at least for 24 hours in a year. You can imagine the pure air arround, after the mother earth has a little rest.

The Ogoh-ogoh In Kuta, Bali