Wednesday, 2022-06-29
Galungan is one of the most important Balinese holidays commemorated every 210 days to honor the creator of the universe and celebrate the victory of dharma (good) over adharma (evil). It marks the time when the ancestral spirits of the deceased relatives return to revisit their former homes and the Balinese celebrate this occasion by being hospitable and welcoming their ancestors thru prayers and offerings. During this holiday schools are closed for 2 weeks.
Galungan always begins on the Wednesday of Dunggulan, the 11th week of the 210-day pawukon calendar, and ends on the 10th day which is called Kuningan when the spirits return to heaven.
The festivities begin with decorating and putting up long bamboo poles with traditional decorations called Penjor on the street in front of the houses.
The holiday is characterized by temple ceremonies, family visits, and communal activities. This is when everyone in the family is busy preparing offerings for their homes and temples, cooking traditional food, and traveling across the island to visit family, relatives, and close friends.
The month of June 2022 has been very special for me where I had the opportunity to meet up with my brother who came from Switzerland for a 4-weeks holiday and held a simple memorial ceremony for my father who's been gone for 19 years at Masceti beach where we scattered my mother ashes last year and participating in the Galungan religious festival. Although I've been to Bali so many times, I have never actually participated in the Galungan ceremony. This year Galungan falls on Wednesday, June 8th, and since this is a rare occasion and while we're still in Bali we might as well participate and join the ceremony.
The day after our memorial ceremony at Masceti beach on June 6th, we drove to my brother's house in Ubud, about 45 minutes away from Denpasar. There we met our close friends, Komang & Kadek (twin) families whom we also consider as our Balinese family.
We joined the festivities on the 7th of June in Ubud, and it's called Penampahan Galungan, or the eve of Galungan where the whole family members were busy preparing Penjor, offerings, and cooking Balinese foods. We had a big family lunch and dinner together on the 7th.
The next day, June 8th, the Galungan day, we held an early morning ceremony at home – every house in Bali has a temple. After the ceremony, the whole family, 13 people in 3 cars, drove to Kayuputih village in the Buleleng district to visit Komang & Kadek's parents and relatives. The drive to Kayuputih in the morning was a breeze. There was not much traffic as the Balinese people who work in the city had gone back to their villages the day before.
We went to visit Komang & Kadek's mother's house, visited their relatives, and participated in another 3 ceremonies while in Kayuputih. The 1st was held at the family temple complex followed by visiting another 2 public temples.
Lunch was held at Komang's eldest brother's (Putu) house, about 1 hour from Kayuputih. We had another authentic delicious Balinese food for lunch. We stayed there for about 3 hours before we decided to drive back to Denpasar.
Driving back was more challenging as the streets were busier with Ngelawang festivals and traffic from people returning. We had to take an alternative route, thru small villages with narrower roads. The view however was stunning. When passing villages, we could see the roadsides were decorated with tall Penjor and Ngelawang festivals.
During Galungan, there's another tradition called Ngelawang which is a ritual performed by a group of children with Barong Bangkung (barong with pig figure) accompanied by traditional gamelan paraded around the village from door to door. The word Ngelawang is derived from the word "lawang" which means the door. So the ritual dance Ngelawang means knocking on every door to expel negative spells or evil spirits and to protect the community from harm, disease, and plague. Barong Bangkung and the sound of gamelan are used as the media to drive away evil spirits.
When we arrived home in Denpasar, it was almost 21:00. It was a very memorable day and tiring. The next Galungan holiday falls on the 4th of January 2023. I have to plan my next trip better so I could stay longer to join the last day of the festivity which is called Kuningan, exactly 10 days after Galungan to celebrate the return of the spirits of the ancient ancestors to heaven.
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