The evening before NYEPI is the Ogoh-Ogoh ceremony. I hesitate to call it a parade although that’s the closest word we have for it. However, a parade goes all at once, this doesn’t. The Ogoh-ogoh’s are so large, men with loooonnnnggg bamboo poles accompany them lifting power lines and telephone lines out of the way. Every few hundred meters or less, they stop, play loud music, swirl around the street shaking and rattling their Ogoh-ogoh making it look wild and ferocious. That action scares the bad spirits away! They rest, pick up the platform, more down the street and repeat. The Ogoh-ogoh of a large demon pig was outside Nyoman’s built by the local temple. They were putting on makeup and dressing before 5:00 pm. I went out to take photo’s. The last Ogoh-Ogho reached the cemetery in Monkey Forest shortly before midnight.
It takes a long time for them to circulate around town yet that makes sense. Their job is to scare the demons away and that’s a job you can’t rush. When they reach the last big intersection in the village, they really get wild. Officials guide the corners or the crazy Ogoh-ogoh keeping it from crashing into the large crown gathered around! Up and down, shaking wildly about, loud music, dancing from competing teams, the effort they put forth is amazing and inspired. Crashing on the pavement, raised overhead, jerking and thrashing, the groups make the Ogoh-ogoh as scary as possible. There really are no words to describe the experience of witnessing this. The closest I can come are these two video’s I shot. It was dark so the visual aspect isn’t great but you’ll get a feel for the enthusiasm from the music they played.
Here’s one, a demon over two stores high that once it cleared the overhead wires, shuddered and thrust about frightening demons away.
The next video is of the huge pig with fangs that was made by the temple near Nyoman and Wayan’s home. Their son helped with this one from construction through the parade ceremony. This is the Ogoh-ogoh you see in the photo’s below in the first few frames beginning with chicken wire through the end result. Amazing how they build these and how sturdy they are to endure all the shaking and jostling.
By six the next morning, everything is quiet. The only sound heard is roosters and occasional barking dog. Silence, deep stillness settles on the village creating a rather eerie feeling. Locals talk in whispers if at all. Many take it so serious, they don’t speak a word! For 24 hours, 6:00 am until the following morning at 6:00 am, silence prevails. I woke the next morning shortly after 5:00 and there wasn’t a sound of a motor bike. After six, they started up once again.
At Nyoman’s, everyone was very respectful and generally quiet. I didn’t leave my room until 1:00 pm savoring the quiet. Once it’s over, it takes several days for life to return to the pace normal before NYEPI. Many businesses are closed for one or two more days. By Sunday, the 25th and two days after NYEPI, things had pretty much returned to normal business operations although life still felt like it was operating at a slower pace.
For more information on NYEPI, click here: NYEPI
We sat and talked quietly for short times. Wayan cooked for all of us and we had an early dinner since they lit no outside lights after 8:00 pm. With no city lights clouding visibility, the night sky was brilliant when the passing clouds parted.
Here are some photo’s.
