'Pemahayu Jagat' held to purify Bali island

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Kuta, Bali

The Bali provincial administration organized on Friday a purification ceremony to restore the island's harmony and peace, believed to have been upset by an earthquake a week ago.

The Pemahayu Jagat ceremony was held in the outer yard of the Pura Segara, a temple that lies next to famous Kuta Beach. Three Hindu priests, Ida Pedanda Gde Bajing, Ida Pedanda Boda of Laplap and Rsi Bhujangga Angkling, officiated at the four-hour ceremony, which was attended by scores of high-ranking Bali government officials.

Among them were Bali Governor Dewa Made Beratha, chairman of the local legislative council IB Wesnawa and chief of the Wirasatya Military Command Col. IGP Buana.

Some 200 bendesa (village heads) from all over Bali also witnessed the ceremony.

The ceremony was concluded with the Mapekelem ritual, in which the participants drowned a selection of animals -- including a cow, a goat, ducks and chicken -- in the ocean.

"A purification ritual such as this must be carried out immediately after any major disaster," said Ida Pedanda Gde Bajing.

It is believed locally that the ceremony was urgently needed in order to prevent a larger disaster from occurring in Bali in the future.

The ceremony was held after an earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale rocked Bali and West Nusa Tenggara provinces at dawn on January 2, damaging thousands of buildings and wounding several people. It was the strongest quake that the island had experienced for 25 years.