Nyepi- Day of Silence In Bali

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Nyepi

Nyepi, Balinese Day of Silence, is just around the corner, Mar 7th. We feel blessed to be apart of this unique holiday, a holiday that should be adopted by every country in the world. On Nyepi, EVERYTHING shut down, electricity, commerce, pedestrians, traffic etc., everything except essential emergency services. The Balinese celebrate their New year in a way that resembles a Jewish Sabbath and Burning Man.
The Burning Man part happens the night before when they burn their individually made Ogo Ogos. Every community that we've driven through, has created their own Ogo Ogo to burn on Nyepi Eve, and what a party that is going to be! These Ogo Ogos are humongous Papier Mache Statues that look like everything from monsters with breasts or Godzilla. Some are only 6-8 feet high, others are 20-30 feet high. The Papier Mache is added after the basic sculpture is built from wood and strong reeds. I'll include a picture of a small one here, after Ogo Ogo, I'll have many more, all completed.
Right now they're all headless as the more elaborate heads are constructed in private, to be revealed on Nyepi Eve for the celebratory burning. Before the burning, they will be marched up and down the streets in each community, with a procession of Balinese and the Gamelin; the community band, which is made up of the noisiest drummers and clangers, all intent on making the most noise possible.
Apparently the Ogo Ogos are representative of our darker nature; demons, monsters and evil people. The noise is to drive the evil spirits away and of course the burning at the end of the night is to celebrate the conquering of our darker natures.
Since everyone will be driven inside for Nyepi, with no electricity or modern distractions, they celebrate the night before like its their last day on earth. I might even have a Bintang (local beer) myself.
We plan on following the Ogo Ogo procession in our local area, Canggu, might take a drive in Kuta later, just to get more pictures, if we can drive. Everyone in Bali is going to be in the streets for Ogo Ogo, so we'll see how far we get. We're looking forward to the party and also the quiet of Nyepi. We'll just hang out here in our Villa, watching movies on our computer batteries, with the curtains drawn. Apparently the local banjar (community watch dog) swarm the neighborhoods making sure no one has their lights on. One banjar member told me if he finds me out walking in the streets, he'll take me to a holding pen until the following day!

The locals who can afford it (not many) actually leave Bali on Nyepi so they can party it up on one of the surrounding Islands instead of “suffering” one quiet day. So if you're ever planning to arrive in Bali in March, be sure to check online for the date Nyepi lands on since the airport is closed.
I'm going to enjoy the absence of airplanes, motor cycles, machines and TV noise. My ears will probably still be ringing from the raucous sound of the Gamelin.

Stephanie and Harreson
http//www.nutritionarticlesonline.com

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Photos

Harreson with small Ogo Ogo
This is small neighborhood ogo Ogo, watch for post Nyepi photos of Ogo Ogo with heads, full size competitions