`Galungan': A day to ponder good and evil

`Galungan': A day to ponder good and evil

I Wayan Juniartha, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

Hindus (also called Bhakta) gathered for prayers at family
shrines and temples to celebrate Galungan, a religious festival
celebrating the victory of Dharma (good) over Adharma (evil).

Thousands flocked to Denpasar's main temple of Jagatnatha
early in the morning. Believers also placed offerings and chanted
prayers at clan-temples across the city.

Celebrated twice a year on the day of Buda Kliwon Dunggulan in
the Balinese calendar, Galungan originated in the ancient
mythology of King Mayadanawa.

The mythology goes that Mayadanawa refused to acknowledge the
existence of Gods. He went on the rampage, destroying temples,
and prohibiting his subjects from praying and conducting
religious rituals.

Heaven sent a huge army of spiritual warriors led by God
Indra, god of thunder and destroyer of the fort, to punish
Mayadanawa. The battle between the two armies is said to have
taken place in Tampaksiring, a town 30 kilometers east of
Denpasar.

It is believed that Tampaksiring's famous Tirta Empul sacred
springs, a favorite pilgrimage and tourism spot, was created by
God Indra in an effort to cure his troops from deadly poison
released by Mayadanawa into the rivers.

Eventually, Mayadanawa's troops were defeated, and the king
perished in Indra's hands. The day the king died was later
celebrated as Galungan.

"Maya means illusion and danawa ogre, so basically the
Mayadanawa is a symbol of the ogre of illusion which is clouding
our mind and heart. So the battle between dharma and adharma
actually takes place within ourselves, and Galungan serves to
remind us that we good should prevail over evil," says Ayuning
Hati, a Balinese cultural expert.

An ancient text of King Jayakesunu warned the Balinese that
the failure to celebrate Galungan would result in the island and
it's people being engulfed by terrible catastrophe.