The holy Balinese feast day Galungan is upon us this fine Wednesday.
Twice a year, Hindus get together with the family to celebrate the victory of good (dharma) over evil (adharma) for the Galungan holiday. It falls every 210 days on the Balinese Saka calendar system, so the previous Galungan was on Feb. 10 earlier this year, while the next Galungan will occur April 5, 2017.
Galungan’s why this week, you see the “Balinese Christmas tree,” those long bamboo poles called penjor, decorated with coconut leaves adorning Balinese houses and businesses everywhere.
Although not a nation-wide tanggal merah (national office holiday), you can feel the Galungan atmosphere in Bali since it’s a three-day island-wide facultative holiday.
From September 7 to 9, banks, schools, and other local businesses in Bali shut down so families can put on their finest, go to the temple for prayers, and feast together.
And then ten days later (Sept. 17), Kuningan will commemorate the very end of the celebration. Special ceremonies on Kuningan will mark what Balinese Hindus believe as the return of their ancient ancestors’ spirits to heaven and after that, the island will go back to its normal activity for the next six months.
Editor’s note: Additional information has been added to this post to include the dates of the previous and next occurring Galungan holidays so you don’t have to count out the 210 days yourself to determine the holiday dates!
ALSO READ
Police and pecalang get ready for Bali’s big Galungan holiday
VIDEO: Penjor, Bali’s ‘Christmas tree’ explained, ahead of Galungan holiday
Reader Interactions