Nyepi Bali Silence Day

  In more than one way, Bali is the exact opposite of the west. While westerners usher in the New Year in revelry, the Balinese greet their own New Year in silence. this is Nyepi Day, the Balinese day of Silence, which falls on the day following the dark moon of the spring equinox, and opens a new year of the Saka Hindu era which began in 78 A.D
Nyepi is a religious event. Bali is a Hindu society, one that believes in the karmapala principle, according to which the dynamics of life and of Man's individual fate is set motion by "action". man is in the midst of a samsara cycle of incarnations, each of which is determined by the quality of this actions (karma) in his former existence. his "ideal" is thus to put the system to rest, i.e., to control one's actions, and thus to subdue one's "demons" . Only in such a way can man hope to achieve "deliverance" from his cycles of life (moksa) and eventually merge with the oneness of the Void, the Ultimate Silence of Sunya. The Day of Silence is a symbolic replay of these philosophical principles. At the beginning of the year, the world is "clean". The previous days, all the effigies of the gods from all the village temples have been taken to the river in long and colorful ceremonies..

There they have been bathed by the Neptunus of Balinese lore, the god Baruna, before being taken back to

 residence in their shrines of origin. the day before Nyepi, all village have also held a large exorcist ceremony at the main village crossroad, the meeting place of the demons. And at night all the demons of the Bali world were let loose on the roads in a carnival of fantastic monsters, the Ogoh-ogoh. Jerking this way so as to give the impression of a dance, or suddenly turning in a circle, much to the fascination of the spectators. And, believe it, this is not not a small "procession": it last for three to four hours, as if Bali has an inexhaustible pool of demons. No more than it gods and goddesses for sure.

 On Nyepi day, which starts with sunrise, don't expect to be able to do anything. You will have to stay in your hotel. No traffic is allowed, not only of cars, but also of people, who have to stay in their individual house. Light is kept to a minimum, radio tuned down, and no work, of course. Even love making, this ultimate activity of all leisure-timers, is not supposed to take place, nor even attempted. A whole day simply filled with the barking of a few dogs, the shrill of insects and simple long, long quiet day in the calendar of this hectic island.Thus, on Silence Day, the world is clean and every thing starts a new, with Man  showing his symbolic control over hem self and the "force" of the world. Hence the mandatory religious prohibitions of mati lelangon (no pleasure), mati lelungan (no traffic), mati geni (no fire), and mati pekaryan (no work).

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