Galungan and Kuningan Day Celebration is one of the various types of festivities celebrated by Hindus in Bali.
Galungan day is a celebration of the day of the victory of the Dharma (goodness) against Adharma (evil), is the victory of truth through the blessing of Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa or God.
Galungan and Kuningan Day Celebration will be celebrated by Hindus every 210 days, using Balinese calendar calculations, that is on the day of Buddha Kliwon Dungulan (Wednesday Kliwon Wuku Dungulan). And the celebration is held for 10 consecutive days.
The meaning of the word Galungan that is comes from the Old Javanese language which means ‘win’. Besides being a celebration of victory day, this Galungan day is also to celebrate the creation of the universe and its contents.
At the celebrations day Hindus will visit temples around their homes. Balinese people who are Hindu will wear traditional clothes which are dominated by white and women will bring offerings in their heads.
When celebrating Galungan in Bali, we will find many penjor decorations on the edge of the streets in Bali. Penjor is a bamboo pole that rises about 8 meters high and will be equipped with coconut leaves and ornaments such as fruits, rice, corn, coconut, leaves and others. The shape of the penjor is long and curved. Penjor has meaning as gratitude for the prosperity and welfare that has been given by Hyang Widhi Wasa or God.
The end of the Galungan Day Celebration is Kuningan Day, which is held on 10 days after Galungan, that is on Saniscara (Saturday) Kliwon Wuku Kuningan. Galungan Day is believed to be the day when the gods descended to earth and Kuningan Day was the day when the gods returned to heaven.
The word Kuningan has the meaning “kauningan”, which means achieving spiritual elevation by means of introspection to avoid danger. During the celebration of Kuningan Day, which is a characteristic of the content of Hindu offerings is yellow rice, different from the other ceremonies such as Galungan, Pagerwesi, Saraswati and other holy days using white rice. This yellow rice as a symbol of prosperity that has been bestowed by the Creator and also presents other offerings as a thank you and thankful for all the gifts from God. Other upakara facilities are tamiang, endongan, lamak and ter.
So many holy days of Hinduism, in addition to presenting Bali’s natural culture as well as aesthetic values make travelers who come to Bali island be amazed and want to get to know their culture more closely. So that the attractiveness of the island of Bali as a tourist destination is not only because of the presence of tourist objects, but also because of the noble culture and a number of traditions inherited from the ancestors of the Balinese people, becoming an attractive thing for tourists.