In my yesterday's post, I promised to talk about Nyepi The Balinese New year Celebration. But then I thought maybe I should explain more about New Year's Eve, where all the fun is done.
The Balinese New Year's Eve is called Pengrupukan. And during this time almost every household will do Mecaru Ceremony which is done to expel the bad spirits within the house compound or convert them into a good spirit.
By doing so we hope that they will not only become good but also will protect our house compound from outside attack or anyone with black magic who might want to cast a bad spell towards our family.
This is the offering that was prepared and done by my wife.
After my wife finished doing the ceremony, we were going home because we are going to celebrate Nyepi in my parent's house in the village. On the way home I stopped and took photos of this old lady who brought offering in their head.
And just like I mentioned earlier about the fun part. Yes, the fun part of new year's eve is during the evening when there was Ogoh-ogoh Parade.
Ogoh-ogoh is a statue that is made from paper, bamboo, wood and sometimes styrofoam. Ogoh-ogoh is a depiction of the Bhuta Kala or bad Spirit which is then paraded along in the village or city street before being burned down after the parade ends.
Just like the Mecaru is done to convert the bad spirit, the Ogoh-ogoh parade is also a symbol that we will burn done the evil or bad things before entering the Nyepi so that we can have a better and clear mind, and purified soul to enter a long journey in the coming new year.
the man is just a spectator waiting for the parade, not the Ogoh-ogoh : )
the Ogoh-ogoh I found on the street
I missed a few steps to get a better picture of these two little kids bringing their small version of ogoh-ogoh.
Here is one of the youtube video covering the parade in Denpasar city. I don't have any video about the parade, and also I didn't watch the parade till the end because I have to go home before dusk, it is forbidden to bring my infant child wandering around at dusk : )