Day Of Silence, Nyepi Day in Bali

Happy New Year 1930!

Every religion or culture all over the world has their own way to define and celebrate their new year. For the Balinese Hindu we also have our New Year which is called Nyepi, A Day of Silence.
Nyepi is a day to make and keep the balance of nature. It is based on the story of when King Kaniska I of India was chosen in 78 A.D. The King was famous for his wisdom and tolerance for the Hinduism and Buddhism societies. In that age, Aji Saka did Dharma Yatra (the missionary tour to promote and spread Hinduism) to Indonesia and introduce the Saka year.
The ceremonies and celebrations before and after Nyepi day:
Melasti or Mekiyis or Melis (three days before Nyepi)Melasti is meant to purify the pratima ( Temple Effigies) or arca or pralingga (statue), with symbols that help to concentrate the mind in order to become closer to God. The ceremony is aimed to clean all nature and its content and also to take the Amerta (the source for eternal life) from the ocean or other water resources (lake, river, Natural Spring etc). Three days before Nyepi, all the effigies are carried in a colorful procession to the nearby natural springs, lake or the sea for purification before they are place on the Bale Agung (Great Pavilion) in the Village temple. The villagers come and bring their own offerings for prayers every single day until the New Year’s Eve where the effigies will be returned to the temple that they are belong to.

Tawur Kesanga (the day before Nyepi)Exactly one day before Nyepi, all villages in Bali hold a large exorcism ceremony at the main village cross road, the meeting place of demons. The villagers which are dominated by the younger generation including children construct and build the Ogoh-ogoh (Terrifying Effigies). They are carried in a parade for warding off the evil spirits from their neighborhood. It is symbolizing the exorcism. The Parade is held all over the island of Bali after the sun goes down. Bleganjur, a Balinese Musical Instruments are played to accompany the parades.

Nyepi ( Highlight of the Festival)On the Nyepi day itself, every street on the island is quiet, nobody doing their normal daily activities. There are only Pecalangs (traditional Balinese security man) who controls and checks for street security. Bali is shut down for 24 hrs, it is including our only International airport, Denpasar. Nyepi is a day of silence, fasting and meditation.

Ngembak Geni (the day after Nyepi)Ngembak is the day after Nyepi is the opposite of Nyepi Day, where the island’s life is back to normal with cars and people on the streets. Everyone go out and socialize.
From the religious and philosophy point of view, Nyepi is a day of self introspection and contemplation to decide on values of the sense of humanity, love, patience, kindness, etc., that should be kept forever.

The Beauty of Bangle Village - East Bali

A small rough road off the main street at Amed Village leads us to a small village named Bangle. It surrounded by mountain with its beautiful terrace field on its side. Mots of the people are still practicing traditional rice farming, ploughing the field helped by the cows and all the planting and harvesting are done by hand. The villagers are still living in a very traditional ways. The whole day they would spend it on the field doing their farming to produce food for their family. Kids are diligently helping their parents doing a little work on the field or cutting the grass for their cattle.


Women are patching water from the nearby natural spring and carry it home on their head for cooking and drinking water, picking up fire woods as most of the cooking are still done in traditional wooden stoves.


The village life is absolutely a contrast of the life in Amed which has been so much different over

the last few years because of the tourism facilities development where its people have been adopting much of the western influences and modernisation, but the traditional way of life that's still exist in this village is truly offering much more peace and harmony to our spirit, a peaceful and tranquil place for the body and soul.

Little girl carrying a piece of firewood to home from the field.
Girls are busy cutting the grass to feed the cows that are used to plough the field for growing rice.
Two little girls are carrying the grass on their head, heading home.
Grandmother carrying stack of firewoods and green for the pig.

Man busy ploughing the field for growing rice, helped by the cows.
Girls are cutting the grass along the irrigation canals along the paddy field for the cows.