Soon after I arrived in Bali, I learned that March 5 is a balinese hindu holiday call Nyepi. It's the new year, and called the Day of Silence because no one goes outside or does any work. I don't think the locals even cook or turn on electricity. I don't think non-hindus or foreigners are
required to stay inside, too, but since everything is closed, most do. And my guess is, it's rude to go out anyway. If it weren't, I would definitely go out tomorrow. You know how I like having a place all to myself! Alas, I'll be stuck at the hotel. But hotel grounds remain open, so I can use the restaurant and the pool, I just won't wander off campus.
The day before Nyepi, today, is Tawur Kesanga, and is the day the balinese burn these huge paper and bamboo demons called Ogoh-Ogoh. Well,
traditionally burn them, at least (see below). If I understand it right, the Ogoh-Ogoh represent evil, so the balinese ritually burn them to both stir up and drive out the evil spirits. Then tomorrow, everyone will stay indoors and silent so that the evil spirits will think no is around, and they will drift away.
All week long as I walked through town or drove through other towns, I saw people working on the Ogoh-Ogoh statues. Earlier this week, most of them were still plain white outlines of the demons, but by today they quite elaborate. They are all painted, and many are decorated with fur or feathers. The making of the statues seems to be of interest to many people; there were usually crowds of kids, and a few adults, gathered to watch their progress. I'm under the impression that every village has at least one, and usually more than one, and the larger towns (like Ubud) might have dozens.
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| Under construction a few days before the holiday. |
Around 5pm, Karen, Ricardo and I went to the village next door, Peenestanan, to watch its parade. We figured it would be a lot less crowded than the Ubud parade, even if it was smaller. So we got to town in time to see the initial procession of offerings being taken to the temple.
While many people went inside the temple, we stayed outside where the Ogah-Ogah statues were waiting for
their part of the parade. Turns out, there were about 10 statues waiting to be carried around town then set on fire.
Waiting for 90 minutes for the parade to start wasn't much fun. Nor was the rain. And then Ricardo and Karen decided to turn in, but I decided to stay because when was I ever going to get to see
this again? Finally, everyone left the temple and groups of people gathered around each statue to carry it through town. The smallest statues had maybe 15 children carrying them, but the largest had 30-40 men. There were also a couple bands of balinese percussion instruments, which are supposed to help stir up the evil spirits. They were a treat to listen to as well. A few people with large bamboo poles walked along with the statues to lift wires out of the way, and the crowd (including me) fell into step wherever there was room.
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| There's 40 men under this dude. |
Occassionally, someone would shoot off fireworks from inside the parade crowd. Or the guys with the torches would make them flare really high. I'm sure this is the kind of event where every so often, a statue accidentally catches on fire before it's supposed to, and there's a stampede. Didn't happen tonight, though.
The parade with the statues probably took a little over an hour; it just went up one street, then back down it and stopped just past the temple. I expected at that point, all the statues would be set on fire. But alas! They were merely picked apart, with a few token body parts from each one tossed into a little fire. :( It's probably for the best though; I was watching all along the parade route for a good spot to burn stuff, and there was no where that didn't have trees, buildings or electrical wires right nearby. Even without bonfires at the end, it was a pretty cool event, and I'm glad I was accidentally here to see it.
If I don't post tomorrow, it's because I'm doing a whole lot of nothing (possibly because there is no electricity). So if there's no post, I'll write again the day after.
All week long as I walked through town or drove through other towns, I saw people working on the Ogoh-Ogoh statues. Earlier this week, most of them were still plain white outlines of the demons, but by today they quite elaborate. They are all painted, and many are decorated with fur or feathers. The making of the statues seems to be of interest to many people; there were usually crowds of kids, and a few adults, gathered to watch their progress. I'm under the impression that every village has at least one, and usually more than one, and the larger towns (like Ubud) might have dozens.
Around 5pm, Karen, Ricardo and I went to the village next door, Peenestanan, to watch its parade. We figured it would be a lot less crowded than the Ubud parade, even if it was smaller. So we got to town in time to see the initial procession of offerings being taken to the temple. 
While many people went inside the temple, we stayed outside where the Ogah-Ogah statues were waiting for their part of the parade. Turns out, there were about 10 statues waiting to be carried around town then set on fire.
Waiting for 90 minutes for the parade to start wasn't much fun. Nor was the rain. And then Ricardo and Karen decided to turn in, but I decided to stay because when was I ever going to get to see this again? Finally, everyone left the temple and groups of people gathered around each statue to carry it through town. The smallest statues had maybe 15 children carrying them, but the largest had 30-40 men. There were also a couple bands of balinese percussion instruments, which are supposed to help stir up the evil spirits. They were a treat to listen to as well. A few people with large bamboo poles walked along with the statues to lift wires out of the way, and the crowd (including me) fell into step wherever there was room.
If I don't post tomorrow, it's because I'm doing a whole lot of nothing (possibly because there is no electricity). So if there's no post, I'll write again the day after.
Very cool -- glad you stuck it out. Looks like the wait was worth it (unlike the lighting of the National Christmas Tree).
ReplyDeleteThe Tree Lighting Ceremony was disappointing, wasn't it? Future presidents should consider setting it on fire. That would guarantee MY vote.
ReplyDelete