Tonight there are traditionally big parades of monsters - Ogoh-Ogoh - to chase the ancestors off the island but due to the impending elections these had been banned for fear of trouble. However at my local Banjar – village hall – the gamelan orchestra was playing and a large group of men were dancing and singing to encourage the ancestors to leave. At one point a small parade came past with a giant puppet monster and another group went past on motorbikes with a monster on the leading one.
26 March 2009
After the ancestors were frightened away last night it is important that they cannot find their way back to Bali. Therefore the island goes dark and quite for 24 hours. Only emergency vehicles are allowed on the roads. The airport closes as do the ports. No one may leave their house, there should be no noise and no lights. This is a time for self introspection to decide on values. At Little Pond we were allowed lights in our rooms but not on the porch and we could wander around the courtyard. Two members of staff came on at 23:00 yesterday and will stay until 07:00 tomorrow. The homestay is so quite I did not really notice the extra silence.
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