Nyepi Day

Nyepi Day – Bali’s Silent New Year

Article by Trias Bali Travel

Nyepi Day is the Hindu New Year in Bali and is based on the Saka Calendar, a lunar calendar originally from India. The actual day changes every year but falls sometime in March or April of the Gregorian calendar, on the day after the full moon. Nyepi Day is also known as Bali’s Day of Silence. So called because it is meant to be spent in reflective prayer and silent meditation. While visitors may not follow the same beliefs, they are required to observe the silence when visiting this mystical and spiritual island on Nyepi Day. The purpose of this is to ensure that the evil spirits roaming the lands will pass over the island when they see that no one is around hence restoring the balance of good and evil for the New Year. As a tourist in Bali, there is not much you can do except to remain in your hotel especially if you are in areas which enforce strict observance of these rules. Shops, restaurants and tourist attractions will be closed. Vehicles are not allowed to ply the streets and local officials will be going on their rounds to ensure that the silence is maintained. The airport will be also be closed for 24 hours, so don’t even try to leave!Being confined to the perimeters of your hotel, you might take the opportunity to enjoy the facilities there. Therefore choose to stay in a hotel or villa where you can attend a cooking class, enjoy a spa treatment, yoga class or laze by your own private pool. For the more amorous, your hotel room and room service would be ideal but do keep the noise level down since the silence in the air will only serve to have an amplifying effect on every whisper. Melasti – The day before Nyepi DayNyepi celebrations begin the preceding day with Melasti which traditionally marks the end of the rainy season in Bali. Offerings of rice wine, food and blood are laid at crossroads where the butas and kalas loiter. These are the demons that interfere with human life causing suffering and the offerings are meant to appease them. Cock fighting is permitted as the blood spilled is necessary for purification and blood sacrifices are required from every known domestic and wild animal on Bali. In Balinese Hinduism, this is not seen as a cruel act but sacrifices such as these are treated with reverence. Mantras are recited for the sacrificed animal to request an improved status in the next life hence improving their karma. Ogoh – OgohMassive papier mache statues called Ogoh-Ogoh are made and paraded through the streets of Bali on Melasti in a deafening cacophony of cymbals, drums, gongs and even pots and pans. All in the efforts to chase away the dark forces before Nyepi. Visiting Bali in the weeks preceding Nyepi offers you amusing sights of towering devilish monsters ranging from fanged chickens to box office Superheroes. The largest Ogoh-Ogoh processions on Melasti Day are in Denpasar, but you will see equally vivid characters and large noisy processions in towns such as Ubud.Visiting Bali during this period offers the tourist colourful photo opportunities and a holiday to remember.

About the Author

Trias Bali Travel is a travel services company based in Bali, Indonesia specializing in Bali hotel reservations including Bali packages. Check out their website at http://www.triasbali.com

Nyepi Day