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The eve before "Nyepi" -Bali's day of silence before the New Year of the Balinese calender - "Ogoh -Ogoh" statues -representing mystical beings and monsters are being paraded in a "Ngrupuk" procession around the villages. At every T-junction and cross road the statues are being turned three times anti clockwise to confuse the spirits and make them leave the island for the beginning of the New Year.
The statues are being built by the boys and men of the villages and carried on bamboo constructions -and at the end of the night most statues will be burned. However nowadays some might be spared the flames as they are quite expensive in the making and some are actually up for sale.
The following day Nyepi is being observed -a twentyfour hour period -with silence,no entertainment,no traffic, no visible lights and for some very strickt Hindus meditation and fasting...Even the airport is closed and tourists are also obliged to stay in their hotels and adhere to the customs in moderation.
Bali -the island of a thousand temples.....and coming with it numerous ceremonies....each year -according to the Balinese calender - every village temple has its "odalan" or "birthday"...this lasts from a couple of days to a few weeks depending on the importance of the temple and occassion...Its almost like a fun fare- with many food stalls and busy from morning til evening..The married women from different communities of a village area bring offerings to the temple..to be blessed and given to the gods and some parts will be brought back home again for own consumption...Several dances accompany these celebrations -often only performed by young children...dancing to the Gamelan music
