It seems I keep experiencing New Years this year. First with the Gregorian calendar, then the Chinese New Year, and now I’ve gotten to see what it looks like in Bali. This year I went to Nusa Penida and got to experience Isakawarsa, the Balinese New Year.
Daemon e Charta
The Balinese will welcome Nyepi by building Ogoh-ogoh, effigies that represent the evils of humanity. They will be paraded around, carried by groups of people using a bamboo scaffold. Ogoh-ogoh are meant to be grotesque and ugly in order to fully represent the evils they are meant to be.
Ogoh-ogoh vary in quality. Many are built by school children so are simpler in design, but they are still fun to see. Others are built by experts and are extremely detailed, with realistic facial expressions and muscle definition. This variation in quality doesn’t matter to the locals, as all Ogoh-ogoh are treated equally.
As the Ogoh-ogoh dance, traditional music is played. Many traditional instruments are used, including drums, bells, and cymbals. The music is chaotic and wild, almost feeling like it is without structure and yet there is a system to it. It’s loud and energetic and the crowd loves watching the Ogoh-ogoh dance to it.
On this night many people are out to party before Nyepi. Though the Day of Silence is meant to be for meditation and fasting, many aim to tire themselves out this night so they can sleep through it instead. While we were on our bikes riding back to the place we would spend Nyepi, we met a group of young locals who were heading to a house party to finish off the night.
We made our way back and hoped that our preparations had been sufficient, that we had enough food and beer to last through the Day of Silence.
Day of Silence
After the celebrations comes Nyepi, the Day of Silence. For 24 hours, from 6am until 6am the next day, everyone is supposed to fast, meditate, and contemplate themselves. No fires or lights are to be lit, and no one is to leave their homes. No alcohol is to be consumed. No work is to be done. And no fun is to be had.
Of course, not being practising Hindus, we didn’t strictly follow these rules. We spent the day eating noodles, drinking beer, and playing Settlers of Catan. We continued until it was dark, and eventually fell asleep in the morning.
Still, they are surprisingly strict about the darkness and going outside. Many religious enforcers patrol on this day, and we had a knock on our door at one point because an upstairs light could be seen from the street. I’ve read that you could be deported for breaking the rules of Nyepi, though I have no knowledge of it ever happening.
A Third New Year
After waking up and being allowed to leave again, my first mission was to get some real food. The bank machines still had no cash in them, so I settled for some fried chicken from a local fast food place. I joined my friends in getting a boat back to mainland Bali and we went to a warung1 owned by one of our friends.
A new year was upon us according to the Balinese calendar, and so many hugs and “Happy New Years!” were offered. The lights were back on, the music was playing, and Ubud was as bustling as ever.
- A small family-owned businesses in Indonesia. ↩︎
