NGERUPUK
& NYEPI
B
A L I
INDONESIA
Bali
sure is a part of Indonesian Archipelago of some 17 000 islands.
However, it has its own culture, unique and not found anywhere else.
The Balinese culture is mainly based on religious believes.
In
fact, Balinese are constantly busy performing rituals and ceremonies
and distributing offerings. However, Ngerupuk celebrations are huge.
Ngerupuk is a big day and it falls just before Nyepi. Since Nyepi,
the New Year, currently 1941 according to saka calendar, is a day of
quiet the celebrations on Ngerupuk are loud and carry on into the
night.
They
are much the same as New Year's Eve when everybody parties into the
night and then sleeps it of on New Year's Day one could say. Well,
not in Bali. These celebrations are based on strong religious
believes that keeping quiet on Nyepi, the Day of Silence, will fool the evil spirits that
the place is uninhabited and they find somewhere else to settle of a
year.
OGOH
OGOH play a big part during Ngerupuk. The monsters artfully made with
everybody's help are carried around to scare off evil spirits. The aim is purification of natural environment of spiritual pollution created by humans.
The
dress code for performing rituals is important both for men and women. Thus the mood during the festivities is celebratory and a real
treat for visitors as long as one can keep quiet during Nyepi.
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