March 5th marked the Caka Lunar New Year Nyepi holiday here in Bali – Year 1933. It is a day of silence and rest for the entire island, and apparently one of the most important rituals for Balinese Hindus. Trust me, this holiday is taken extremely seriously as we have been hearing about it for over a month!
It is a day where you are not to work, you are to stay at home & spend time with your family, not use electricity (not even for cooking or lighting), and not enjoy any form of entertainment. Just to give you an idea of how serious this is, even the International Airport of Denpasar is closed on this day. Tourists are asked to stay on the hotel grounds where they are staying at and to not leave the premises. Access to beach is also closed to everyone on this day…
The day before Nyepi, the Balinese Hindus perform special purification ceremonies at the temples. There is a parade of giant Ogoh-Ogoh’s, which represent evil mythological creatures made of paper-mâché. Following the long procession, the Ogoh-Ogoh’s are burned as a ritual to ward off evil. Despite the late night, my parents decided that this was a must-see and worth keeping me up later for…Yipppeee!
We headed out at around 5pm and saw all the Ogoh-Ogoh’s on display. It was incredible to hear already how quiet the city was. Streets which were normally lined with parked motorbikes were suddenly empty! The one day that I could’ve gone out sitting comfortably in my Baby Jogger stroller, mom decided to take the baby carrier for fear that the streets would be too crowded.
It was still early so there weren’t too many people on the streets yet. We were actually able to walk on Legian Street, which is normally filled with cars and motorbikes in crazy traffic! We made it up to the main Temple, where a purification ceremony was already taking place. Unfortunately I could not see anything, nor could my parents 😦
Since it was getting late and we didn’t know when the procession would start, we decided to stop and grab a quick bite to eat cuz it was already way past my supper time! We went to Ristorante Italia (see upcoming post)
Although we did not get to see the full parade and be with the crowds the night before Nyepi, I’m glad that I got to stay up later than usual and to see all the Ogoh-Ogoh’s. Some were indeed quite scary, but I’m a tough gal. I didn’t even have any nightmares that night!
The next day was just a nice relaxing family day spent at home with mom and dad…in the silence of Bali…
Little Sumo Girl 