Balinese enjoy 4 days break
Balinese enjoy 4 days break
Juniartha, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar
Denpasar was almost deserted on Tuesday, with most people
choosing to stay home and relax on an unofficial four-day
holiday.
The roads were very quiet, and government offices and most
private businesses closed, as did schools and others educational
institutions.
The unofficial holiday started on Saturday, when the Balinese
celebrated the Hindu festival of Saraswati, the Goddess of
Knowledge. On that day, books were gathered at a special place.
An ornate piece of cloth was draped over the books and a special
offering was placed on it as a sign of respect and love for the
goddess.
"There were no classes last Saturday. Teachers only asked
Hindu students to turn up at school to pray at the school's
shrine," sixth-grader Putu Ayu Desiani said here on Tuesday.
She said that school would not resume until Thursday because,
according to her teacher, Monday was the Hindu festival of Siwa
Ratri, Chinese New Year fell on Tuesday and another Hindu
festival, Pagerwesi, was on Wednesday.
"So we got four days off, or five consecutive days if you count
Sunday. All my friends in different schools also got the same
holidays," she told.
Hindus observed the Siwa Ratri festival by holding a vigil on
Monday night. It is a popular belief that on that night Lord
Siwa, one of the Hindu Trinity, performed his most important
meditation, and those who did the same would be blessed and
rewarded.
Meanwhile, one of Hindu's most important deities, Lord
Mahadewa, was believed to meditate on Pagerwesi day. On that day,
Hindus are expected to look into their inner-self, and renew
their vow to uphold the teaching of Dharma, the truth.
"Of course, you need a quiet place, and time to observe and to
attain a state of meditativeness and contemplativeness. The
Balinese consider the workplace and school too busy and noisy to
conduct these religious activities. Taking a holiday was a
natural solution.
"After all, Bali is the acronym for Banyak Libur (many
holidays), isn't it?" cultural observer Nyoman Gede Sugiharta
said.
Yet, not all places were quiet and devoid of activity on
Tuesday. Several klenteng (Chinese temples) and vihara (Buddhist
temples) bustled with the spirit of joy and celebration. Ethnic
Chinese started visiting temples early in the morning to
celebrate Chinese New Year by praying and making offerings.
"This place is fully packed. There has been a continuous
stream of people. I believe things will continue like this until
tonight," a worker at Griya Konco Tanah Kilap, Suwung, a temple
visited by both Chinese and Balinese, said.