ext week Wednesday is perhaps the second most important holiday in the Hindu calendar celebrated throughout Bali and Indonesia, Galungan.

Editor's note: Next week Wednesday is perhaps the second most important holiday in the Hindu calendar celebrated throughout Bali and Indonesia, Galungan.

For tourists it is a colorful display of ceremonies when Balinese dress up in their finest costumes and provide offerings and prays at temples, businesses and homes.

The holiday will actually begin on Tuesday and last until Thursday. Then 10 days later will come Kuningan which is the equivalent of the end of the Christmas holiday. Impress teh Balinese by stating Selamat Hari Raya Galungan – ( Happy Galungan Day )

According To Wikipedia:

Galungan occurs every 210 days and lasts for 10 days. It celebrates the coming of the gods and the ancestral spirits to earth to dwell again in the homes of their descendants. The festivities are characterized by offerings, dances and new clothes. The ancestors must be suitably entertained and welcomed, and prayers and offerings must be made for them. Families whose ancestors have not been cremated yet, but remain buried in the village cemetery, must make offerings at the graves. Kuningan is the last day of the holiday, when the gods and ancestors depart until the next Galungan.
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