Shangrila Oceanside Retreat and Spa

Balinese life could be synonymous with living in Heaven on Earth. Young or old alike are very dedicated to a life that honors the unseen world foremost. All actions, all passages, all things, such as cars, machines, buildings, trips, etc all need to be connected to the higher force, to God. Therefor all things of earthly life need to be blessed, or connected to the forces that are beyond human control.

It is for this reason possibly that you may feel truly as if you stepped into another world. Here the creator is not forgotten. Daily you will see our staff performing blessings before they start their workday, to bless the grounds they work on. They will pray for your wellbeing, they will pray that all things will go well.

You can join our staff at ShangriLa in your mind, whenever you may see someone bring an offering to a shrine, to a statue or a tree.

Here are some of the major celebrations that accompany Balinese life. Nearly every day of the year, you are bound to see not only a small blessing, but a major celebration.

The street to the est of ShangriLa that leads to the ocean is often used for processions. Feel free to join the crowd, walk over to the street, about a five minute walk, and watch the musician, the procession and the intent to honor the unseen life.

The important dates for 2009 are:

Holidays & Celebrations in Bali 2009

• 01 January: International New Year’s day (Tahun Baru)
• 18 March: Galungan (Victory of Dharma/Good over ADharma/Evil)
• 28 March: Kuningan (10th Day of Galungan)
• 26 March: Nyepi (Balinese New Year – Day of Silence)
• 01 August: Saraswati (Honoring the Goddess of Literature – writing proscribed)
• 05 August: Pagerwesi (Day for Samadhi & meditation)
• 17 August: Indonesian Independance Day
• 14 October: Galungan (Victory of Dharma/Good over ADharma/Evil)
• 24 October: Kuningan (10th Day of Galungan)
• 25 December: Christmas Day

IMAGES of BALI’s Upacara (ceremonies) click here:

IMPORTANT FESTIVALS in Bali are based on a Balinese Calender which is in harmony with the moon. Every year the days fall on a different date.

• GALUNGAN AND KUNINGAN
  Galungan and Kuningan ceremonies are the biggest festivals on Bali. In front of every houses and places decorated with Penjor (a tall decorated bamboo stakes) Galungan ceremonies always begin on Wednesday and held for three days. During Galungan festival, the gods descend to the earth and stay with the people. After 10 days, on Saturday, it is Hari Raya Kuningan, a kind of all souls’ day. In the morning people bring offerings to their ancestors and gods. The next day Sunday is Manis Kuningan. Held at the temple of Sakenan on Serangan island, where the BARONG LANDUNG dance usually performed.
• NYEPI
  Nyepi is annual purification on the Hindu-Balinese New Year, determined by Caka lunar cycle calendar. Nyepi usually celebrated at the beginning of the tenth Balinese month or at the end of March or at the beginning of April.
  In the evening peoples leave their houses carrying Ogoh Ogoh, a big puppet represent an evil. Everybody make noise as much as possible to frighten the evil; so that they flee as far as possible from Bali. The Nyepi day, all peoples on Bali stay at their homes. There is no traffic on that day and no noise may be heard outside the house and no light may be seen.
• PAGERWESI
  Ritual ceremony for strong metal and spiritual defense in welcoming Galungan.
• SARASWATI
  The day of Dewi Saraswati devotion, the God manifestation as the beautiful goddess of knowledge, art and literature. On this day, all books of knowledge, manuscripts and the Weda are blessed.
• TEMPLE FESTIVAL

– ODALAN
Odalan ceremony considered as a birthday, annual ceremony of a temple based on Balinese calendar 210 days. There are big number of temples on Bali; and they held the ceremony in three days.

LIFE CYCLE RITES

Hindu Balinese believe in incarnation of human soul and cosmic notion. The five cosmic elements (Panca Maha Bhuta) consists of: air, earth, outer space, fire and water.
These cosmic elements will accompany the soul in his after death journey; and help him to achieve the Moksha or eternal release. If failed, it means that the soul is still bound to the chain of incarnations.

The following are the details of well known life cycle rites:

TEETH FILING
A ritual ceremony that the six front teeth in the upper jaw are filed. This ceremony is to released the teenager from six evils: anger, greed, jealousy, dipsomania, stupidity and unbridled lust. After the teeth file ceremony he or she belongs to the grown up people, with all the rights and duties and ready to marry.

Many stage are passes in the process of life which are connected with ceremonies, which help connect all important passages of Earthly life ito the larger frame of Spiritual life.

Starting from: Conception to Birth, the important months after birth, through puberty and adulthood all these stages are puncutated with blessing ceremonies.

Here are the names and explanations of some of the major blessing ceremonies:

1. Gedong-gedongan : this is done in the 8th month (Gregorian calendar/7th month Balinese calendar) of pregnancy to ask blessings for an easy birth. The pregnant woman and her husband wade into the river, where eels and small fish are placed face down on her protruding belly to show the baby the right way out!
2. Birth: Only the husband and the midwife/doctor are allowed to hold the placenta or after birth. This is washed and then buried on the right (if the baby is a boy) side of the northern pavilion or left (if a girl). With it are buried a comb, a dance fan, a pen, a book—whatever the family wishes the child will grow up to enjoy.The parents are not allowed to go into the kitchen for three days.
3. Three Days after birth: the parents undergo a simple cleansing ritual so they can go into the kitchen
4. Rorasin: 12 days after the birth the umbilical cord has usually fallen off. This is placed in a special shrine dedicated to Kumara, the Guardian of Babies.
5. 42-day ceremony: Once a baby has reached this age, a rather large ritual is performed for her/him. This is to ensure that her/his development will continue unhindered. One of the things done at this time is that a baby chick and baby duck are brought in to peck off/dust off cooked rice that is on the baby’s third eye. This is to show the child how to use her hands and feet as well as her mouth to gather food, as the animals do. She is placed under a cockfighting basket where she grabs items that have previously been placed into a clay pot. It is said that whatever she grabs is her vocation.
6. Three month ceremony: This is also quite a grand ceremony that all the relatives and neighbors are invited to. This marks the first time a child touches the ground for the first time (he is carried everywhere previously). In some villages, this is when the child is “replaced” by a dressed up eggplant or cucumber. The priest sings the praises of the the eggplant so that spirits of chaos that might be lurking around will follow the eggplant when it’s thrown out the front door, while the real baby stays protected.
7. Odalan or six months (210 days) ceremony. This is the baby’s birthday and will be celebrated ritually every 6 months. But no birthday cakes here!
8. Three odalans is traditionally when the child has her or his hair cut off and head shaved to represent purity.
9. Menek kelih or puberty. Not all castes perform this ceremony. It happens when the girl gets her period and the boy’s voice cracks. They are paraded around the village announcing to all that they are now adults (and in the olden days, ready to marry)
10. Tooth filing: In their late teens, Balinese get the top middle teeth filed; this symbolizes the filing away of greed, anger, lust, drunkenness, envy and confusion.
11. Wedding: the ultimate fusion of male and female
12. Death or NGABEN
    Ngaben is a cremation ceremony, a symbolic rite that the soul will be released and returned onto the cosmic elements. It takes place depends of the ability of the family to pay for it. Sometimes it takes several years before a Ngaben takes place. As long as there is no cremation, the soul cannot rise up to heaven. The body will be buried, waiting for a propitious day for cremation. Within the ceremonies surrounding the death of a Hindu Balinese, there are a number of rites. The first is the ritual cleansing of the corpse by the family and the banjar (neighborhood). Then comes the burial or the cremation (if the family can afford to cremate right away, they will choose that option) and then the post-crematory purification rites where the soul becomes a deity that shall be worshipped in the family temple.

Yes, nearly every day is a day to celebrate something in Bali! The above essay was written by Rucina Ballinger, founder of Dyana Putri Adventures.

Hari Raya Saraswati, the Goddess of learning, science and literature – Jan 3 & Aug 1, 2009

In accordance with Balinese Hindu belief, knowledge is an essential medium to achieve the goal of life as a human being. This day celebrates Saraswati in Bali, a special day devoted to the Goddess of learning, science and literature. Saraswati rules the intellectual and creative realm, and is the patron saint of libraries and schools. For Balinese Hindus, she is celebrated as she succeeded in taming the wandering and lustful mind of her consort, Brahma, who was preoccupied with the goddess of material existence, Shatarupa. On this day no one is allowed to read or write, and offerings are made to the lontar (palm-leaf scripts), books and shrines.

Saraswati Day is celebrated every 210-days on Saniscara Umanis Wuku Watugunung and marks the start of the new year according to the Balinese Pawukon calendar. Ceremonies and prayers are held at the temples in family compounds, villages and businesses from morning to noon. Prayers are also held in school temples. Teachers and students abandon their uniforms for the day in place of bright and colourful ceremony gear, filling the island with colour! Children bring fruit and traditional cakes to school for offerings at the temple.

Hari Raya Nyepi, the Silence Day – Sometime in March

The month of March brings us Nyepi – Bali’s official day of silence (24hrs) on Monday. Nyepi marks the first day of the Balinese Saka calendar (1929) and is practiced island-wide where the Balinese dedicate an entire day to introspection and spiritual cleansing, embarking on a new year based on the Balinese lunar calendar.

This is the only place in the world where the government will shut down an airport for meditation & introspection!

Nyepi is my favorite day of the year. The night before the silence begins, there is an island wide parade of paper mache monsters (Ogoh-Ogoh) sent about making a rukus to scare evil spirits off the island, back to where ever they came from. Starting from approximately 6 a.m. and continuing until 6 a.m. the next morning, EVERYONE will stay in their family compounds (or hotels) and silence will overcome the island. There are no cars, no TVs or radios, no lamps or fires and no airplanes overhead allowed.

Waisak – May 9, 2009, is an annual holy day honoring:

• The Birth of Prince Siddharta (also known as the Buddha) in taman Lumbini in 623 BCE.
• Prince Siddharta achieving nirvana or enlgihtenment and becoming the Buddha in Buddha Gaya at the age of 35 in 588 BCE.
• Buddha Gautama’s death in 543 BCE at the age of 80.

Waisak is celebrated in Bali mainly at the very few Buddhist ashrams on the island. There is a huge celebration at Borobudur Buddhist temple outside of Jogjakarta when thousands of Buddhist pilgrims come to pay their respects.