A distant bird sings a slow, repetitive gok gok gok, a rhythmic sound, like a percussion of coconut shells or a forest gamelon band: it gently seeps into my consciousness. Further away, waves break on the fringing reef. Above, a giant black kite reaches for the clouds. It’s a warm Sunday afternoon and the gentle breeze lifts the kite sky high and ruffles the lush greenery in the garden below. But all this lazy Sunday tranquility is deceptive: the Balinese are busy and preoccupied as they prepare for Galungan. The anticipation and excitement is palpable and infectious. The topic comes up in almost every conversation. Some are eager, some are already tired from making offerings, but all are involved as the days count down from Sunday to next Wednesday, July 24th, Galungan day.
Galungan is one of the most important days of the Balinese calendars. It is the day when the spirits of dead ancestors descend to their former family homes. They must be welcomed and entertained with beautiful decorations, offerings, feasting and prayers. These ancestor spirits stay for a week, and leave on Kuningan day, which occurs on August 3rd this year. Galungan always occurs on the Wednesday of the 11th week in the Pawukan Calendar, the Balinese 210 day calendar that governs most anniversaries, auspicious days and religious events. It is possible for two Galungan events to fall within the same year, though in the 40 years I’ve been visiting Bali, this will be my first experience of Galungan.
Everyone has a role to play in the preparations. I’ve been watching teenage lads and young men cart huge bamboo poles around on motorbikes, dragging them down lanes and through markets. These green bamboo poles are then bent into shape and decorated to make the Penjor. During Galungan, Penjor frame the entrance to a village, a house or driveway, or form a colonnade along the streets. They begin to appear on Monday July 22. The task of creating a penjor is given to men and their sons, and each one I’ve met is very proud of their creation. Each penjor is unique but made using the same basic ingredients. The bamboo pole is arched at the top, representing Gunung Agung ( Bali’s sacred mountain), the body represents a river flowing from the mountains to the sea, and along its route are the products of the harvest tied to the pole: at the foot of the pole is a temporary shrine. Unlike the artificial tinsel and baubles of Christmas which make an annual appearance and then are stashed away, a penjor is made annually and consists of local, natural materials.
The celebrations start on the Monday ( Penyajaan) as women prepare coloured rice cakes or jaja which are used as offerings. At this morning’s traditional market, Pasar Sindhu, rows and rows of jaja were available for those busy women who don’t have time to make their own. On the Tuesday, called Penamphan, pigs are slaughtered to make the traditional feast lawar, a spicy ground meat dish eaten on the morning of Galungan. I spoke to a friend this morning, Ida Bagus, who was looking forward to making the lawar, having already prepared the marinade. The making of lawar is also a male duty. In contrast, I had an interesting chat with Ketut, an amusing young woman in her 40s who runs a kitchenware shop in the market. She was complaining about men taking credit for their Penjor and Lawar, while the women make small canang sari containers for a weeks ahead of Galugnan, along with hundreds of rice cake offerings and other festive foods, only to spend each day cleaning up, while the men lie about relaxing on Galungan day, eating and drinking rice wine.
Galungan celebrates the creation of the universe, the victory of good, Dharma, against evil, Adharma. It s a time for prayer, family get togethers, and offerings. On the day following Galungan, families will visit other friends and families in villages across Bali and the celebrating will continue. It’s a sweet and precious time for the Balinese, but then, most days are. There’ll be more ceremonies to discover next week, if not every day after that.
I have borrowed extensively from Bali Sekala and Niskala, Essays on religion, Ritual and Art. Fred B Eiseman, Jr. 1990, Tuttle Publishing.
Would you like more of Bali in your daily life? For the next three months I’ll be documenting aspects of Balinese life, at instagram@morgan.francesca
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I love celebrations like this – last year I got to experience Dia de Los Muertos in Mexico – very cool life experience!
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Oh Fran – Reading all this for the first time I almost feel I have been gifted with a term of lectures on matters Balinese to see me thru’ Australia’s much more plebeian end of winter and beginning of spring ! How absolutely delightful !! And I must admit to but little knowledge of Australia’s so-called ‘bedroom suburb’ š ! I love the flowers. Shall enjoy the food. And am about to return to the copy to learn more about the spirituality . . .
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There are two kinds of visitor to Bali. I am one who immerses myself in the culture, as much as I can. This takes time. The label’ bedroom suburb’ is misleading, like most labels. The Dordogne region in France is a bedroom suburb of the British and there are more worldwide. Anywhere in Europe close to a Ryan air flight becomes a bedroom suburb. Oh how ugly is Krakow on a weekend. I am so pleased that you enjoyed my little beginner’s guide to one of the most important Hindu festivals, Eha. You’re comments are valued.
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I am learning and all I can ascertain is not always creating joy . . . Knew about the British enjoyment of parts of France without necessarily being culturally interested but am absolutely aghast to know that reaches as far east as Poland ! My apologies for using the term: ’tis too oft upon the written page ! As fae as Bali goes sadly most of the visitors from south seem to love the sun on the beach and the booze at the other end of day . . . so it is fantastic to learn from someone like you . . . enjoy !!
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Thankyou Eha. I find that the most culturally inappropriate behaviour comes from the Europeans who refuse to dress appropriately near temples and don’t understand anything outside their own world view. Australian boozers and boguns are a favourite of the Australian media. More Australians these days have respect for Balinese culture. Some cashed up versions however are in the business of buying up sea frontage properties. I saw a local wearing a tshirt today which read, “,Bali is not for fucking sale’.
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AGREE !
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All of this cultural information is new to me, and it’s wonderful of you to research, illustrate, and post it here & on Instagram. I’m looking forward to your continued writings and images.
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
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Thank you Mae, I am so plessed you enjoy them.xx
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How wonderful that you’re immersed in day-to-day life of the Balinese… it seems a gentler, kinder way to travel as opposed to the term tourist, worse… spectator.
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To be fair to those spectator tourists, most are in a hurry and so run around doing as much as they can before heading home after 10 days or so. Like tourists everywhere. Three months is a lovely stretch of time, allowing me to be quite indulgent when it comes to matters cultural and spiritual. One of the advantages of being old I guess. Oh and the other advantage is that Balinese have enormous respect for older folk. I do seem to spend a lot of time talking to Balinese people and find them so delightful, open and ready to share their cultural background with me. It all takes time. I feel very blessed.
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I’ve never been to Bali and think of the island only as an exotic tourist destination which has made tourism the basis of the economy…….I’ve always disliked that idea. However, this post has drawn a fascinating picture of a people living outside of that bubble. Wonderful pics by the way.
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There is so much more to Bali than tourism Roger, and I’m pleased to say that Balinese Hinduism and culture continues to be so strong. The Balinese, however, do depend on the tourist dollar in some of the busier places.
A small comparison might be made with Italy’s tourist industry, where a small land mass with a population of 56 million people hosts over 70 million tourists annually. And despite this, there are still some wonderful spots in Italy. Italy would be in a financial mess without tourism.
I’m pleased that most of the ugly tourists stay in their own little bubble although sometimes their behaviour impinges on local culture. I plan to write about that soon. Stay tuned.
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I love the Penjor. It must be wonderful to see so many different ones on your walks, and to know that they are made with local materials. So different to our attitude of going to the shop and buying mass produced decorations. Having time to spend in a place is a true gift to yourself.
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