Every religion or culture all over the world has their own way to define and celebrate their new year. For example, the Chinese have the Imlek year and to celebrate it, have, as they called it in their own language, "Gong Xi Fat Choy". The Moslem societies have their Muharam year, and any of the people over the world using the Gregorian calendar, celebrate the New Year on January 1st.
The same thing also occurs in Bali, however the Balinese use many different calendar systems. They have adopted the Gregorian calendar for business and government purposes. But for the endless procession of holy days, temple anniversaries, celebrations, sacred dances, building houses, wedding ceremonies, death and cremation processes and other activities that define Balinese life, they have two calendar systems. The first is the Pawukon (from the word Wuku which means week) and Sasih (which is means month). Wuku consists of 30 items starting from Sinta, the first Wuku and end up with the Watugunung the last one. The Pawukon, a 210-day ritual calendar brought over from Java in the 14th century, is a complex cycle of numerological conjunctions that provides the basic schedule for ritual activities on Bali. Sasih, a parallel system of Indian origin, is a twelve month lunar calendar that starts with the vernal equinox and is equally important in determining when to pay respect to the Gods.
Westerners open the New Year in revelry, however, in contrast, the Balinese open their New Year in silence. This is called Nyepi Day, the Balinese day of Silence, which falls on the day following the dark moon of the spring equinox, and opens a new year of the Saka Hindu era which began in 78 A.D.
Nyepi is a day to make and keep the balance of nature. It is based on the story of when King Kaniska I of India was chosen in 78 A.D. The King was famous for his wisdom and tolerance for the Hinduism and Buddhism societies. In that age, Aji Saka did Dharma Yatra (the missionary tour to promote and spread Hinduism) to Indonesia and introduce the Saka year.
The lead upto Nyepi day is as follows:
- Melasti or Mekiyis or Melis (three days before Nyepi)
Melasti is meant to clean the pratima or arca or pralingga (statue), with symbols that help to concentrate the mind in order to become closer to God. The ceremony is aimed to clean all nature and its content, and also to take the Amerta (the source for eternal life) from the ocean or other water resources (ie lake, river, etc). Three days before Nyepi, all the effigies of the Gods from all the village temples are taken to the river in long and colourful ceremonies. There, they have are bathed by the Neptune of the Balinese Lord, the God Baruna, before being taken back home to their shrines. - Tawur Kesanga (the day before Nyepi)
Exactly one day before Nyepi, all villages in Bali hold a large exorcism ceremony at the main village cross road, the meeting place of demons. They usually make Ogoh-ogoh (the fantastic monsters or evil spirits or the Butha Kala made of bamboo) for carnival purposes. The Ogoh-ogoh monsters symbolize the evil spirits surrounding our environment which have to be got rid of from our lives . The carnivals themselves are held all over Bali following sunset. Bleganjur, a Balinese gamelan music accompanies the procession. Some are giants taken from classical Balinese lore. All have fangs, bulging eyes and scary hair and are illuminated by torches.The procession is usually organised by the Seka Teruna, the youth organisation of Banjar. When Ogoh-ogoh is being played by the Seka Teruna, everyone enjoys the carnival. In order to make a harmonic relation between human being and God, human and human, and human and their environments, Tawur Kesanga is performed in every level of society, from the people's house. In the evening, the Hindus celebrating Ngerupuk, start making noises and light burning torches and set fire to the Ogoh-ogoh in order to get the Bhuta Kala, evil spirits, out of our lives. - Nyepi
On Nyepi day itself, every street is quiet - there are nobody doing their normal daily activities. There is usually Pecalangs (traditional Balinese security man) who controls and checks for street security. Pecalang wear a black uniform and a Udeng or Destar (a Balinese traditional "hat" that is usually used in ceremony). The Pecalangs main task is not only to control the security of the street but also to stop any activities that disturb Nyepi. No traffic is allowed, not only cars but also people, who have to stay in their own houses. Light is kept to a minimum or not at all, the radio or TV is turned down and, of course, no one works. Even love making, this ultimate activity of all leisure times, is not supposed to take place, nor even attempted. The whole day is simply filled with the barking of a few dogs, the shrill of insect and is a simple long quiet day in the calendar of this otherwise hectic island. On Nyepi the world expected to be clean and everything starts anew, with Man showing his symbolic control over himself and the "force" of the World, hence the mandatory religious control. - Ngembak Geni (the day after Nyepi)
Ngembak is the day when Catur Berata Penyepian is over and Hindus societies usually visit to forgive each other and doing the Dharma Canthi. Dharma Canthi are activities of reading Sloka, Kekidung, Kekawin, etc.(ancient scripts containing songs and lyrics).
From the religious and philosophy point of view, Nyepi is meant to be a day of self introspection to decide on values, eg humanity, love, patience, kindness, etc., that should kept forever. Balinese Hindus have many kind of celebrations (some sacred days) but Nyepi is, perhaps the most important of the island's religious days and the prohibitions are taken seriously, particularly in villages outside of Bali's southern tourist belt. Hotels are exempt from Nyepi's rigorous practices but streets outside will be closed to both pedestrians and vehicles (except for airport shuttles or emergency vehicles) and village wardens (Pecalang) will be posted to keep people off the beach. So wherever you happen to be staying on Nyepi Day in Bali, this will be a good day to spend indoors. Indeed Nyepi day has made Bali a unique island.
There's an unique tradition that you will find in the Nyepi day session after named Kissing Folklore.
Med-medan is more popularly known as the ‘kissing tradition’. This unique Banjar Kaja ( Kaja village community ) centuries-old tradition is held annually, on the day after Nyepi, the Balinese Hindu Day of Silence. This tradition cannot be found in any other part of Bali.
med-medan Originally, was a communal activity found throughout Sesetan village, but today, only exists in Banjar Kaja. It was originally held on Nyepi Day, a supposedly quiet day. In the past, each community celebrated Nyepi by coming onto the streets. Since there was not any traffic during Nyepi, people could play on the street with ease. It was easy to find people around Denpasar City, for example at Padangsambian village, where boys and girls poured onto the streets and happily played games such as a local-type of base ball (using a ball made of arranged-coconut leaves) and megoak-goak (snakes and ladders) from morning up to the late afternoon. However, around Sesetan village, the game of mèd-mèdan was the most popular.
Originally, med-medan was a communal activity found throughout Sesetan village, but today, only exists in Banjar Kaja. It was originally held on Nyepi Day, a supposedly quiet day. In the past, each community celebrated Nyepi by coming onto the streets. Since there was not any traffic during Nyepi, people could play on the street with ease. It was easy to find people around Denpasar City, for example at Padangsambian village, where boys and girls poured onto the streets and happily played games such as a local-type of base ball (using a ball made of arranged-coconut leaves) and megoak-goak (snakes and ladders) from morning up to the late afternoon. However, around Sesetan village, the game of mèd-mèdan was the most popular.
Around the 1970’s, the celebration of Nyepi was regulated according to the Hindu teachings. People were urged to stay at home and practice meditation or any form of self-introspection during Nyepi. They were not allowed to travel, let alone to play games as before. The effectiveness of this regulation varied from one place to another. Many people in Sesetan village stopped playing games on the street at Nyepi. People of Banjar Kaja, however, did not skip the mèd-mèdan activity. However, instead of doing it on the actual day of Nyepi, they decided to celebrate it on the following day.
Kissing Folklore
The reason why no one dares to stop the mèd-mèdan tradition in Banjar Kaja Sesetan is probably because of the folklore around it that many believe to be true. These myths have been circulated in the form of good old story telling. The first being the story of a senior figure from an upper caste of the village feeling sick and needing a good rest. At Nyepi, people of his neighborhood organized games and created various noises that only ended in making him feel dizzy. He stepped out in order to disperse the crowd, but suddenly the ill figure felt cured from his sickness. Instead of stopping the people from having fun, he encouraged them to keep going. Since then, people uphold the tradition of playing med-medan at Nyepi. During Dutch rule, the community was even willing to pay a fine in order to continue playing the game.
Secondly, there is a story about a number of villagers who fell sick without good reason, after the village failed to perform the tradition during the 1960’s. This seemed especially significant given the year of the alleged communist coup on September 30th, 1965. The tradition was skipped because of social and political reasons, but then resumed after a suggestion given by a spiritual elder. The tradition is believed to keep the villagers from harm and misfortune.
Another tale is related to a weird incident that took place one afternoon in the 1980’s. Two pigs suddenly turned up out of nowhere in the village of Sesetan, to then fight fiercley until their blood flowed. This took place when the people of Sesetan skipped the mèd-mèdan tradition following the ban on people going out during Nyepi. Because of the sign relating to the pigs, mèd-mèdan was once again resumed, but was instead held the day after Nyepi. Since then, the mèd-mèdan tradition is considered a sacred ritual, something that must be annually upheld.
Kissing Sponsorship
What is clear, is that this kissing ceremony has been transformed from a fun game or communal activity into a sacred ritual. Its format has also evolved, as it has become more and more organized, involving the youngsters of the village community. In the past, many youths were bashful of participating. Nowadays, they feel it is the responsibility that comes with being young village community members, and with this also comes the guarantee of the longevity of mèd-mèdan. Each year, the kissing ritual becomes more and more lively. The organizers now accept sponsorship to fund the tradition, ranging from motorbike dealerships to drinking companies who, in turn, provide t-shirts for the youngsters to wear during the ritual.
