The march to purity of body and soul

For Balinese, the ocean is a powerful place, capable of washing clean not only man's soiled physical being but also purifying his sordid soul. The ocean, in Hindu mythology, is the source of Amrta, the Elixir of Life.

Toward the end of each Saka year, thousands of Balinese Hindus conduct a religious march to the beach. Carrying with them temple effigies and sacred objects, these devotees walk in their full regalia to the uplifting tones of the Bleganjur traditional orchestra.

Lightly touching the sea water with the tip of the sacred objects, or their toes, is the first thing they do upon arrival on the beach -- a symbolic act of purifying the objects, and oneself, and of tapping into the supernatural spring of the ocean.

After a sacrificial ritual and a collective prayer, holy water of tirta, made of sea water, is sprinkled onto the devotees.

Known as Melasti or Melis, the ritual is believed to repurify and recharge temple effigies and sacred objects with fresh spiritual power. In fact, it is a ritual more for humans than for the deities represented in the effigies. It is a march to purify body and soul from defilement and attachment to material possessions accumulated in the past year.

Through the march, the devotee prepares mentally for the dawning silence of the new year, Nyepi, when everything comes to a full-circle once again.

-- Text and photos by I Wayan Juniartha