Bali

The Victory of Virtue over Evil

No end to the holiday season in Bali. Just a few days after Balinese New Year we now celebrate “Galungan”, “the victory of virtue over evil”. And Ubud is getting even more photogenic than usual…

The streets are lined with hundreds of “Penjors” – intricately decorated bamboo poles, featuring a little box for offerings at the bottom. The tradition says that all the gods descend on earth to celebrate on Galungan, and the spirits of ancestors visit their homes. Rituals and offerings on that day are meant to welcome these otherworldly spirits to the material realm. All the families have one or two days off and after days of preparation travel from temple to temple to present their offerings.

The spirits stay for 10 days, after which they will return to heaven on another holiday called “Kuningan”.

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