Galungan and Kuningan Day (From 8th Jan 2004 to
24th Jan 2004)
Galungan Day is celebrated every Budha Kliwon
Dungulan. Galungan Day has a meaning "Pawedalan Jagat"
or the earth's celebration. On this day the Hindus thank the God
for the creation of the earth and its content. On this day the
Hindus feel grateful for His blessings.
Galungan is a ten-day festival, celebrating the victory of virtue
(dharma) over evil (adharma), or - in vein – the victory
of Indra over the evil Mahadanawa. It is also a time when celebrants
offer their thanks to the great god, Sanghyang Widi Wasa.
Galungan starts on Buda-Kliwon Wuku Dungulan – the Wednesday
in the eleventh week (Dungulan) of the "pawukon" (210-day)
calendar.
Preparations begin seven days in advance, and
are marked by the raising of long, curving bamboo poles (penjor)
that line the villages decorated with fruit and rice, and with
palm-leaf ornaments dangling from the tip. On the day before Galungan
scores of domestic animals are slaughtered as sacrifices and for
the feasts.
Galungan is a time of particularly lavish offerings
and celebrations at all temples and at family temples, during
which the deities and ancestral spirits descend to earth to be
honored. The tenth day is Kuningan, the morning of which is devoted
to honoring the ancestral spirits with food (particularly yellow
rice) before giving them a good send-off, completing this run
of ceremonies by dusk.
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