If you are heading to Bali in the next few days, read on to find out how to experience Nyepi, and what to expect during the day of silence.
Silent Day, it is observed with 24 hours of inactivity as the entire island comes to a complete standstill. In accordance to the Hindu faith, Nyepi is Balinese New Year and for followers it is a time of solitude and personal reflection. Nyepi is a day to make and keep the balance of nature. From the religious and philosophy point of view, Nyepi is meant to be a day of self introspection to decide on values, e.g humanity, love, patience, kindness, that should be kept forever. Balinese Hindus have much kind of celebrations but Nyepi is the most important of the island’s religious days and the prohibitions are taken seriously, particularly in the villages.
The Balinese new year is celebrated over six days. On the third day, there is Nyepi, the day of silence. Nyepi is a national holiday in Indonesia, and Hindu areas perform the same rituals.
One fun part of the Balinese new year is the Ogoh-Ogoh parades on ‘Nyepi Eve,’ for the Bhuta Yajna ritual. Large, scary-looking statues are carried through the streets with lots of music and noise. They are brought to the beach in a torch-lit procession while people bang pots and beep horns to make as much noise as they can, to scare away evil. This is called mebuu-buu. The statues are of demons, representing negative elements.
The Balinese Hindus do not celebrate the coming of the new year of Saka Calendar with lavish party; They celebrate it with meditation instead. No activities are allowed to take place. These mandatory religious prohibitions include no pleasure/entertainment ( amati lelanguan ), no traveling ( amati lelungaan ), no fire ( amati geni ) and no working /activity ( amati karya ) and Day of Silence to mark the New Year according to Balinese calendar which the grand ceremonies will be held throughout the island on the 6th, before the whole activities stop for 24 hours and the island goes completely silent making it look uninhabited on the 7th .
Hotels are exempt from Nyepi's rigorous practices but streets outside will be closed to both pedestrians, vehicles and Airport (except for emergency vehicles) and village wardens (Pecalang) will be posted to keep people are not on the street. So wherever you happen to be staying on March 7th in Bali, this will be a good day to spend indoors. Indeed Nyepi day has made Bali a unique island than others.
The silence begins sunrise around 6:00 am of 7th March 2019 and will go on until the next 24 hours.
- All shops are closed on Nyepi Day.
- Guests has to stay inside the resort area
- When listening to the music or watching TV in the room, keep the sound at minimum level.
- There will be no traffic on that day in the whole Bali island.
- Ngurah Rai airport will be totally closed on 7th of March 2019, so there will be neither arrival nor departure in the airport on that day. All connecting airports around the globe have been informed in advance about this.
Across Bali, the activities are allowed only in emergency rooms and maternity section of hospitals and the arrival section of airport. Any emergencies are taken into consideration and tolerated. The whole island is in silence.
Shall you require any further information, aand arrangement during your stay on Nyepi Day, please do not hesitate to contact email us at online@rumahluwih.com
We are looking forward to welcoming you at Rumah Luwih Beach Resort, your home away from home
