Nyepi

NYEPI (Indonesia – Bali New Year)

(Day of Silence)

New Year in Bali is called Nyepi.  (As you learn about this New Year and its traditions and rituals, think about how it is different and what might be the same as our New Years Day in Australia which we looked at yesterday) 🙂

This holiday is the Balinese New Year, and is a day of total silence throughout the island. There are no activities to disturb Nyepi.

• No activity is allowed anywhere (no-one goes to work)

• People have to stay in their houses

• no traffic at all is allowed on the roads (cars or people)

• No lights or electricity are used

• no fire may be lit for 24 hours.

• Great purification and sacrificial rites are held the day before so as to get rid of evil spirits from every corner of the island (ogah ogah are made, paraded then burned)

This is all to make sure that the world is clean and fresh and everything starts new again for the New Year.

The day after Nyepi, Hindus gather to forgive each other and start the new year well with festivities.

This video shows the Ogah Ogah being paraded down the streets, with Indonesian music and instruments being played.  They are made from bamboo and paper and only represent evil which they wish to destroy to start the new year with only good for all mankind.

You can read more about this interesting New Year and its rituals here NYEPI RITUALS

After you have read the information on this page and in the link above, answer the questions on your sheet about NYEPI. Then you can draw your own Ogah Ogah!