Long silence from my end but I'll try to catch up from where I left off. And lets start with the fact that every country should celebrate Nyepi, it's a holiday with everything. We all have our favorite American holidays, mine is currently Thanksgiving (what's not to love about trying to gather as many people whose company you enjoy and cooking for them and eating with them, even if doing the dishes becomes a bit overwhelming). When I was a kid, Halloween was my favorite. Not to knock my birthday when I got to be the star of the show, or Christmas and its gluttony of gifts. But Halloween was the best: getting to go door-to-door in the dark and demand that people give you candy (and threatening tricks if they don't!), dressing up like something you aren't, and the ultimate freedom of the first year that you get to go without Mom or Dad -- it's a great holiday.
Well, the night before Nyepi is like your first Halloween but even better. The Balinese have been making these enormous demons (ogoh ogoh) for months. Tim and I peer at each temple we pass, looking at the construction progress. On the last day of the old year (21 March, this year), the streets are shut to traffic all over Bali. Earlier in the day, it's all about religion with ceremonies in the important temples. Then, as night falls, out come the ogoh ogoh! Cok Bagus placed us in the capable hands of Gong Gek (he needed to help his son get ready for playing the gongs for one of the ogoh ogoh) and her family who first brought us home for coffee then, as the last light disappeared, we rushed to the pasar (central market) just in time for the first groups of "musicians" arrived. These are also mostly young men and boys and are the equivalent of a high school marching band. Except WAY more exciting. If band was like this, every kid would want to be a part of it. It is a throbbing, banging beat that you feel as much as hear, driving everyone into a small frenzy.
Next the ogoh ogoh began "walking" in from every direction. They are placed on palanquins which are each carried by at least 20 young men (Nyepi-eve seems to be a boy-thing) with a smaller boy carried up with the ogoh ogoh helping to steady it and ready it for the fights. Every time two found themselves in the same space, the bands would start to play increasingly loud and fast and the rival demons would face off and challenge each other. Moving to the music and sound, the boys would lift the litters high in the air, tip them and spin in all directions before charging at each other and challenging the other groups. Occasionally one would light up with bright flares that made it look like it was on fire. It was like choreographed ballet set to the Sex Pistols. The demons moved based on what the bands were doing -- ramping up to almost impossible activity as the sound got faster and faster.
Electric lines are really low here (and the ogoh ogoh are tall), so to get under the lines the boys would make the ogoh ogoh duck while a group of men with a long bamboo pole with bamboo tines on the end would get under the lines and prop them up. It was a little scary and at least once you could hear the loud 'crack' as the lines crossed.
Next the ogoh ogoh began "walking" in from every direction. They are placed on palanquins which are each carried by at least 20 young men (Nyepi-eve seems to be a boy-thing) with a smaller boy carried up with the ogoh ogoh helping to steady it and ready it for the fights. Every time two found themselves in the same space, the bands would start to play increasingly loud and fast and the rival demons would face off and challenge each other. Moving to the music and sound, the boys would lift the litters high in the air, tip them and spin in all directions before charging at each other and challenging the other groups. Occasionally one would light up with bright flares that made it look like it was on fire. It was like choreographed ballet set to the Sex Pistols. The demons moved based on what the bands were doing -- ramping up to almost impossible activity as the sound got faster and faster.
Electric lines are really low here (and the ogoh ogoh are tall), so to get under the lines the boys would make the ogoh ogoh duck while a group of men with a long bamboo pole with bamboo tines on the end would get under the lines and prop them up. It was a little scary and at least once you could hear the loud 'crack' as the lines crossed.
This lasted for two or three hours after which we all went home. Gung Gek showed up a half hour or so after we got home with a bag full of food that her family had prepared for us since we'd spent the dinner hour chasing demons. It was super-nice (and super-delicious - I am now a huge jackfruit fan, yum) since we hadn't thought to set aside anything to eat.
The next day (Nyepi Day itself) is the first day of the Balinese new year (1945 on the Balinese calendar) and it is all about silence. Devout Balinese will fast and meditate the whole day and everyone is required to stay indoors with the lights and internet off. As much as the frenetic energy of Nyepi-eve was amazing, so was the polar opposite of Nyepi-day. There was something very healing and holistic about having a full 24-hours where you looked inward without the distractions of the modern world. When it got dark on Nyepi night, Cok Bagus came by our house and told us to come out to the road (I was a little worried since I knew the Pecalan (traditional police) were patrolling for rule-breakers, but Bagus assured us this was OK to do. It was amazing. Not a single light meant that the stars were out in force and the quiet was surreal. Fireflies took full advantage of a human-free night and flitted around houses and yards. By 6am the next day, it was over and everyone went back to their normal lives and routines. What an experience!