Celebrating the creation of the earth by the supreme god along with the victory of goodness or virtue (dharma) over evil (adharma), the Balinese religious festival of Galungan is actually the most important regularly held holiday on Bali. Like Christmas from the West, nevertheless without the tawdry commercialism, Galungan is actually a day of prayers along with feasting when schools are closed along with commerce comes to a standstill.

Observed from the 11^th week of the 210-day uku year by Balinese all over Indonesia, Galungan is actually the start of a 42-day holy period. The celebration has its origins in an ancient pre-Hindu harvest festival along with in which’s forbidden to begin planting during This particular period. In Bali-Hindu legend, Galungan commemorates the defeat of the legendary demon-king Mayadanawa, represented by the god Indra.

In our house you know Galungan is actually coming because of a sudden along with obvious uptick of activity. Preparations begin at least seven days in advance when we start gathering materials for offerings along with preparing the penjor pole. Our housemaid brings offerings to the cemetery for the uncremated dead of her desa (village) along with we ask for spiritual strength in confronting life’s trying cycles along with suffering.

from the days immediately before the holiday, town along with village markets overflow with bright-coloured rice cakes (jajan), green bananas ripen in domestic courtyards, temples are spruced up to receive the ancestral spirits, along with the whole island is actually decked out in lamak scrolls, delicate palm-leaf cut-outs, along with various other festive decorations. Men ready the temple grounds, hanging friezes, canopies along with banners, building bamboo platforms, cooking ritual feasts, erecting penjor poles, performing guard duty along with covering the privates of statues with holy checkered cloths.

The pace quickens closer to the day with the whole household working soon after the sun breaks over Gunung Agung until the last light of day fades on top of Gunung Batur to the north. Three days prior to Galungan, the preparations are non-stop with building altars, fashioning offerings, cutting decorative patterns via palm leaves, preparing sweet rice snacks along with erecting ceremonial paraphernalia. In villages on either side of the ridge where we live, I can hear the high-pitched squeals of pigs piercing the mid-morning air as they are being slaughtered to make lawar.

On Galungan day, starting at dawn, the women of our household dress in their finest kebaya (traditional blouse) along with gold jewellery. Later from the morning, they bear elaborate offerings to the village temple of origin where ancestral spirits along with deities descend to earth to be honoured.

The Balinese seem the happiest when they are getting ready for a festival. The idea is actually to fulfil your religious obligations along with have a not bad time while you’re at in which. The work actually starts a few weeks before Galungan, which has a day of offerings for

Batara Guru, a Hindu god via the creation myth. This particular holy day of Pagerwesi assures protection of the family, the village along with the earth at large. Pagerwesi means ‘iron fence’, symbolizing the fortification around you to keep out greed along with evil during the ceaseless battle between the two faces of god.

Large celebrations such as Galungan, lasting for more than a week along with mobilizing hundreds of people in every village along with household (rumah tangga), are performed with startling efficiency. Nobody is actually left out. In our village in an agricultural district of Tabanan, farmers as well as rich businessmen via Denpasar take part from the preparations. A sure fire way of pleasing the gods is actually to present them with prayers along with offerings, so major festivals such as Galungan are brightened by rows of sumptuous fruit along with flowers. Rules govern exactly how much food, oil, palm leaf strips, lamak along with symbolic money are offered.

This particular is actually a gay along with festive time when all of Bali’s roads, large along with little, are draped with penjor. Like a maypole taken to the extreme, these tall, curved bamboo poles are adorned with unhusked rice along with flowers. Placed in front of each door as a symbol of thanks to Sanghyang Widhi for his gifts of life along with prosperity, they dip toward the centre of the street. The sight of long lines of penjor gracing Balinese villages alone is actually worth a trip to Bali.

Another way to entertain the gods is actually with dance, drama along with gamelan music. Laughter brings joy to the gods, so each household makes a contribution to the musicians. Both the higher deities along with the gods of the underworld are taken into account, one reason why Balinese festivals are so noisy, colourful along with confusing. Be patient, as nothing happens to a fixed schedule. The response to my inquiries as to when a procession or event will take place is actually always “Sebentar lagi” (in a little while).

Fashionable dress shows respect along with is actually also a mark of social prestige. Women don rich handspun kain along with ornament themselves with jewels, scarves along with pounded gold in their hair. At festival times a young woman looks her best. She’s allowed to wear lipstick along with makeup at religious events, nevertheless not in daily life when in which might be considered too flirtatious. Infant girls wear flowers in their hair along with bright sashes around their tiny waists. Men wear a keris, brocaded head cloth along with colourful sarung.

A large temple festival is actually like a stage for a lavish form of metaphysical theatre, a three-ringed circus of the arts when the temple comes alive with devotees who crowd into the courtyard along with parade between the shrines. Babes are carried from the arms of little children, priests recite mantras, elders translate poetry via sacred lontar, children fly kites along with men gather to joke along with gamble with brightly coloured Chinese cards or fight their cocks.

Clove cigarettes along with incense smoke choke the air, peanuts along with rice cakes are sold, along with there is actually spirited gossiping among neighbours along with friends. For three or four days almost without break, ritual dances, festive music along with dramas are performed as if the occasion were a gay costume party instead of a fervid act of worship. Finally, on the day after Galungan, called Manis Galungan (Sweet Galungan), there are great family reunions along with visits to friends along with neighbours. Bloated with sensory pleasure, the many ritual obligations are brought to a close along with the gods are invited to return to their heavenly spheres.