Nyepi, When We Celebrate New Year in Silence

Balinese has its own calendar system called Tahun Saka or Caka which is believed came from the influence of the Saka Tribe in India. Just like how Hindu religions enter Indonesia so does its Calendar system.

It has 12 months in a year and each month is called sasih. We have 420 days each year, and each month consists of 35 days. But there is a lot of other factors and measurement that can influence the day.

Even though I am Balinese I don't really understand how it is measured and counted, Thanks to the technology now I can know the months and other important ceremony days through a printed calendar. A bit strange isn't it?

The type of Balinese Calendar, a mixed of Balinese Calendar System and also the Roman Calendar

While in Pengrupukan or New year's eve there was a parade but the new year is filled with silence, because Nyepi come from the word Sepi or silence. And literally for a day, Bali island is taking a day off from everything.

It is we celebrate the new year with silence so that we can purify the human and mother nature. It is also time for Balinese to look back and reflect on what we have been done in the past year so that we can do better in the new year.

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And this is the time of the year, almost every access to Bali is closed, The Ngurah Rai International Airport is closed, the harbors around Bali are also closed.

There are four (4) prohibitions that should be followed during Nyepi which is called Catur Brata Penyepian

• Amati Geni or No Fire
  Nyepi starts from 6 a.m on the first day of the 10th month on Balinese Calendar until 6 a.m on the second day. And Balinese is expected to not use fire during those times. And the food usually begins prepared before 6 a.m. And during nighttime, there is no light is allowed, and it is almost a total blackout in the entire island.

• Amati Karya or no working
  Just like the purpose of Nyepi is time for us to reflect the year before, so it is expected that no Balinese is working during Nyepi. But lately as technologies advance and there are a lot of other sectors that still need to be open, not all Balinese are non-working during Nyepi.

• Amati Lelungaan or no Travelling
  everyone is not allowed to leave the house compound during Nyepi unless it is urgent like bringing the sick person to the hospital. Because of that Bali seems to be dead or sleeping for that day.

• Amati Lelanguan or no Entertainment
  There are not entertainment is allowed like art performance or anything. Now, radion channel, TV channel, even internet was shut down during Nyepi.

The national police along with the traditional security forces called Pecalang are the ones who can go out and patrol in each traditional village territory. Those who got caught breaking the prohibition can be fined by the traditional village officials. The fines are different from one another depending on the rule imposed on those traditional villages.

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Pecalang patrolling in his traditional clothing - I think the photo was taken in Denpasar, the capital city of Bali, and the street is empty

Sound pretty lame isn't it because you feel like a prisoner for one day. But it is very nice now because it can be a good time to reconnect with the family, looking back at the years we have been through. Most Balinese usually are coming home to their parents' house during Nyepi.

Unfortunately, I don't have any photos for Nyepi, nothing to be shot, as it is all empty. : )