Bali Festivals: Bali Life Cycle ceremonies & Yearly Calendar Events
One thing will be very obvious when you visit Bali: there are
always Bali festivals
going on somewhere on the island. The daily life of the Balinese seems
to be mainly focused
on preparing and conducting ceremonies for these festivals.
It is so time consuming that it
can be considered a full time job...
But of course the Balinese don't
see it as a job. For them these Bali festivals are part of life.
Without it the life cycle, social structure and connection with the
heavenly world will be incomplete.
So not surprisingly, at
every stage of life there is a ceremony or ritual taking place together
with other
Bali festivals at full moon, a new calendar year or other
days that are considered important.
The major Balinese festivals are:
Bali life-cycle ceremonies and rituals
Bali Festivals - From pre-birth till loosing one's milk teeth
The
first ceremony of a Balinese takes place before he or she is even
born. On the 6th
month of the pregnancy a ceremony with
offerings is conducted (pegedong-pegedong) to
ensure the well
being and health of the baby.
Once
the baby is born the afterbirth is to be placed in a
coconut which is
wrapped in a white cloth and finally buried near the entrance
of
the
parent's household. For a short period of time appropriate
ceremonies are conducted regularly on this spot.
Between
the 12th and
42nd day of the
child's birth the mother and baby are considered unclean.
Therefore a
series of
ceremonies take place in which both are purified in order to
participate in Bali festivals and religious events.
During this time
the god Sanghyang
Pance Kumara is also asked to watch over the child and to protect it.
The 105th day is one of the
important days for the child as only then will it be given a name. Also
during this Bali ceremony (Telubulan)
the baby is fully welcomed into the
family.
On the first
birthday (Oton),
which is according to the
Balinese calendar on the 210th day, the baby is allowed to touch the
ground for the first time. Because the ground is considered impure,
the baby has always been carried around up to this day.
This day is of course
again accompanied with a ceremony which is pretty big and takes place
at the
ancestral temple where families and the community gather to celebrate.
The
next ceremony in life takes places as soon as the child looses
his/her milk teeth (Maketus).
During
this ceremony the
responsibilities of Sanghang Pance
Kumara, the god who has protected the child since birth are
withdrawn.
From then on the responsibilities rest on the families' ancestors.
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Bali Festivals - Tooth filling and Marriage
The Bali festivals and life-cycle ceremonies stop for a while,
until a
Balinese boy or girl reaches adolescence...
In this period of life the important and painful tooth-filling ceremony
(Mapandes)
takes place, preferable before
marriage.
By filing away the sharp points of the canine
teeth the Balinese believe that human behavior such as lust,
greed, anger, drunkenness, jealousy etc. is removed from that specific
person.
If you see a smile like this, you can't resist to smile too
Several young Balinese can undergo this ceremony at the same time
and it is often accompanied with a lot of guests, music and many
offerings.
It is one of the most important of the Bali Festivals as it ensures
a good reincarnation.
Either way ...whether
or not you believe the reason for tooth filing, I must say that the
Balinese do have one of the most dashing smiles I have seen.
The
next of the many Bali festivals in life is marriage.
Traditionally the Balinese still
marry at a young age compared to people on other continents.
While they
are not
pre-arranged the existing Balinese caste system still has some
influence on
choosing the right bride or groom.
You would expect that at
this stage of life there will be a huge Bali wedding accompanied with
excessive ceremonies.
Well, it is
possible if the bride and groom choose to celebrate this
occasion
with
their parents and other members of both families. This means grand
ceremonies which cost a fortune.
Or...
They
can elope, Las Vegas
style. It is more a show then the real thing
because the parents just pretend not to know.
The Balinese way of
eloping is that the man and woman run off together and get married the
next day during a private ceremony.
When they return the
parents continue their 'role in this play' and act if they are
outraged. Ceremonies
that take place soon afterwards are often without the bride's
parents as
they still 'disagree' about the whole thing.
But of course...all
ends well as after 3 days the parents meet and a ceremony takes place
(Ketipat Bantal)
and the parents reconciliate.
As you can imagine this costs way less compared to the first option. So
couples
often choose to elope. Understandably if you realize that the most
important and final event of all Bali Festivals in life is even more
expensive...
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Bali Festivals - Cremation
The
final life cycle ceremony is the Bali cremation (Pengabenan, ngaben or
palebonan). When touring around the island you are likely
to see this
ceremony.
We
have witnessed it several times and were even able to see one of the
biggest in decades: the
royal cremation in Ubud 2008. If you are not
fully aware about the reasons of the cremations that take place in Bali
you can be quite surprised.
The tower with the deceased and the priest
are turned around many times
The Balinese consider these
final Bali Festivals as one
of the most joyous in their life. When
the deceased is cremated his/her soul is released and is able to
continue the journey to heaven followed by reincarnation.
So instead of sadness, the whole Bali ceremony is a somewhat happy and
loud
spectacle
in which the body of the deceased is carried in a colorful tower to
the temple of death.
To make sure that the soul of the deceased will
not find its way back home, the tower is turned many times in order to
create confusion.
I'm
always surprised that the tower is still upright after being turned
many times by dozens of carriers. The priest, who is standing near the
top of
the tower next to the body is remarkably always standing on
both feet as well.
Once at the temple the body is placed in a
sarcophagus which is often in the form of a bull. The priest sets the
sarcophagus on fire to purify the deceased.
Carrying the sarcophagus to the temple
One
final ceremony will take place 12 days after the cremation. However it
can take a bit longer for this ceremony to take place since it's
very expensive.
During this final Bali ceremony the remaining
ashes which have been placed in white and yellow cloth are transported
on
a
beautiful construction to the sea.
If the sea is too far, then the
ashes will be taken to a river which will guide the ashes to the
sea.
The
Balinese people believe that the
soul will return back as a
reincarnation of a new family member, such as the first baby born
after this
final ritual.
And from this point the Bali festivals which are part of every
Balinese
life start again from the very beginning...
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Bali Yearly Calendar Events
The
Balinese Calendar - Hindu 'Saka' and 'Wuku'
There
are two traditional calendars in Bali that regulate the social and
religious life of Bali.
Not only are the correct days for specific
annual Bali festivals determined by these calendars, but it
also indicates auspicious
days in which important ceremonies can take place or other normal daily
affairs such as activities concerning cattle, fish, trees, bamboo et.
First
of all you have the Hindu
Saka which is mainly used by the mountain
people in Bali, the Bali Aga.
In this calendar there are also 12 months
in one year of which the months are based on the full moon (purnama) and
the 'dark' or new moons (tilem).
Each month can consists 29 or 30 days counted from the new moon. A year
has 354, 355 or 356 days.
The Bali Aga also use palm leaf manuscripts
and the Saka Calendar to determine dates for Bali Festivals
This
calendar is important for determining the dates for Bali festivals and
ceremonies of the Bali
Aga community,
agricultural activities and Nyepi, the most important
yearly festivity.
Nyepi day is the only national festival that is
determined by the Saka
calendar and it falls on the first day (dark moon) of the ninth
month.
The other Balinese Calendar is the complex Wuku Calendar (also
known as pawukon or uku).
The
correct use of this Bali calendar is so complex that it can be
considered a
science which is practiced by specialists.
Brahmanic priests and witch
doctors are the ones ordinary Balinese turn to in
order to
know which dates are good and which aren't.
To determine auspicious days the specialist
will consult the Wuku calendar together with secret symbols carved on
wood and manuscripts drawn on palm leaf (wariga).
The Wuku calendar consists of
squares in which a drawing is painted. The contents of each square
indicates if the day can be considered a lucky or unlucky day.
Pictures in the Wuku Calendar
that indicate lucky and unlucky days...
So
Bali Festivals such as weddings, cremations, building houses
etc. are only held when the right combination of names,
pictures
and
dates on the Wuku Calendar are determined.
This is done by the
specialist after a small fee of course ;-)
Anyway...to give you an impression of this complex calendar let me at
least give you the basics.
The
Wuku calendar is based on 210
day lunar cycles. These cycles are not
divided into months but into weeks that are initially ten days long,
followed by nine days, eight days etc. So at the end the final week
consists only of one day.
The Bali calendar itself is divided in rows indicating the 210 days and
columns which show the week days.
Balinese Wuku Calendar; which is
behind glass
hence the bad
picture quality
And then we have the naming of the days and weeks...
Each
week has a different name and on top of that each day of each week has
a another name as well. This means that in the Wuku Calendar each day
always has a different name.
Of all the ten simultaneous weeks
in the Wuku Calendar, the most important week is the week that consists
of seven days. Like our calendar, the names of these days are also
based on the planets.
In total there are 37 'seven-day-weeks' in a Wuku
calendar,
all with a different name of course.
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Bali Festivals - Galungan and Kuningan
Galungan can be considered a celebration of the new year based on the Wuku Calendar. This means that this is one of the Bali Festivals that is celebrated every 210 days.
A lot of praying is done during Galungan,
even on a busy junction in Kuta...
It
is a 10 day festival which celebrates the victory of good over
evil. During this period of time the ancestral spirits come
down
to join the festivities Galungan festivities, to
receive offerings and to visit the homes of their
descendants.
Then, at the end of the 10 days the spirits return
back to heaven to await the next Galunggan.
During
these important days every Balinese home is covered with
offerings and
everything is cleaned for this occasion.
Streets are also decorated
with penyors which are tall bamboo poles decorated with long strings of palm leaves.
The tips of the penyors often bend over the streets creating a very
nice arch for traffic to pass by. I
have heard that the Balinese place the penyors during Galungan so the
gods who reside in the mountains can see it from far away.
Other
important activities during this Bali event are slaughtering animals
for a grand feast and of course preparing offerings.
During Galunggan penyors arch over the streets of Bali
On
the Galunggan day itself (to be exact the 5th day of the 10 days
celebration) the Balinese spend the day with family while
praying and making offerings.
The next day which is called Manis
Galunggan, the Balinese go out to visit their friends.
Kuningan follows straight after the 10 days of Galungan. This is also one of
the most important days as the spirits of the ancestors return to
heaven.
And like all Bali Festivals this is accompanied with praying and
again... with a lot of offerings.
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Bali Festivals - Nyepi
Unlike all other Balinese Festivals, Nyepi is determined through the
Hindu
Saka
Calendar and not through the Wuku. It is the Saka New Year which
usually falls in March of April and consists mainly of many important
purification rituals.
If you are in Bali on this specific Nyepi day, be prepared to do
nothing whatsoever. Of all the Bali festivals, this is the most quiet
one.
Before
the actual day the Balinese are already busy purifying religious temple
objects with water from sacred springs or the sea. Just
one night
before the actual Nyepi day there will be a loud spectacle all over the
island as this is the time when evil spirits are scared away.
Ogah Ogah, almost ready to scare away evil spirits
The
Balinese go to the streets with drums, gongs, firecrackers and the
ogah ogah (huge paper mache monster) so they can scare off all the
evil spirits that roam the island.
Once it is Nyepi a
silent blanket covers the island. Everyone sits quietly at home to
convince the remaining evil spirits that everybody has left the island.
This does not only mean the Balinese have to be quiet,
but
everyone on the island must not make any noise, including travelers
who are spending their
holiday in Bali. No exceptions...
Everywhere shops, restaurants and
other attractions will be closed for the day. Electricity will be
turned off as well. So bring a good book and enjoy the moment of
reading by candlelight...
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Bali Festivals - Odalan
You
would think with all the Bali Life-cycle ceremonies, the 10 day
Galunggan festivities followed by Kuningan every 210 days and also all
the preparations that need to take place for Nyepi day,
that the
year is pretty much filled with these Bali Festivals alone...
You'll be
surprised...
Besides
all the Bali Festivals mentioned earlier there is the Odalan, the
annual
temple birthday. This 'birthday' is celebrated every year according to
the Wuku Calendar. So this means every 210 days.
During the Odalan celebrations will take place accompanied with many
purification ceremonies.
Depending on the temple
size and its importance the Odalan can attract a small crowd or even
thousands
of people gathering together.
For instance at the mother temple of
Bali, Pura Besakih people from all over Bali come together to celebrate
creating a huge colorful crowd.
The fruit and flower offerings for the Bali
festivals can be really high...
Each villages has at least three temples. So in total one village alone
has 5 or 6 Odalan festivals a year.
Plus...
Bali temple
ceremonies can also take place according to the position of the moon:
the new moon (night of complete darkness) or the new moon.
Other Bali festivals that take place throughout the island are temple
festivities
dedicated to specific gods.
During these days the
Pemangku, temple
guardian and priest for temple rituals, will invite the gods to come
to the temple for a visit.
During these Bali festivals the gods will occupy the little thrones
at the temple sight while the people will dance and play music all day
long until
the Pemangku suggest that the gods return to heaven.
Bali festivals involve carrying offerings to the temple...
It's not that difficult to spot if
something important is going on at a temple. Groups of women will
gather at the temple carrying high towers of fruit and flower offerings
on their head.
As you can imagine ...always a beautiful sight to watch.
Foreigners
who are interested in the Bali temple activities are welcome to have a
look
and make pictures.
However it is required to dress accordingly: long
sleeves, sarong and a ceremonial sash tied around the waist.
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Bali Festivals - Other annual events
Besides
all the Bali Festivals mentioned above there are smaller events
dedicated to a specific god as well. Here is a list of a couple of them:
Sarawati - annual Bali event to honor the goddess of knowledge.
This
is celebrated on the last day of the Wuku year. On this day books
are worshiped and there will be no reading. Students pray for
success in their studies.
Tumpek Kandang - blessing of animals
Tumpek Landep - blessing of objects made of metal such as tools, cars,
motorbikes, cars...you name it.
Until today I am still amazed about the number of Bali Festivals.
There is really one for almost every occasion.
But in a way
it feels like the Balinese are more conscious of their
surroundings, social and family responsibilities and above all
life it self.
It creates the harmonious and balanced image that makes Bali as it is.
And
the unique thing about these Bali Festivals is that it can only be
seen in Bali alone. So for anybody who visits this beautiful island it
will be
a great experience to remember.
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