Dear friends,
Welcome back to the News Page… 2 month already passed since the last News Page. The rainy season in Bali is now over and we are back, happy to start again a new season! For those who had a look on the CRUISE PAGE, they know we had spent 1 month in Maldives on the Maarana boat. She was a beautiful sailing boat. We did some amazing dives with Whale Shark, Hammerhead, different types of other sharks, Manta Ray, Eagle ray, Dog tooth tuna and so much more… but the highlight of all of it was a 25 min safety stop with 50 dolphins on my birthday! What a day…
The 2 cruises we organised were such a success that we decided to renew the experience next year… As usual, if you have any comments or question, contact us to info@skubaskool.com

BALI NEWS

Nyepi day, the 30 th march 2006 – Balinese new year.
Every religion or culture all over the world have their own way to celebrate their new year: Chinese, Muslim, Gregorian calendar… The same thing also occurs in Bali despite the fact that Balinese use different calendar. They have adopted the Gregorian calendar for business and government purposes but for their endless procession of holy days, temple anniversaries, cremation processes, wedding ceremonies… they have 2 calendar systems: Pawukon (from wuku, week) and Sasih (month). Wuku consists on 30 items starting from Sinta, the first Wuku and end up with the Watugunung the last one. The Pawukon, a 210-day ritual calendar brought over from Java in the 14th century, is a complex cycle of numerological conjunctions that provides the basic schedule for ritual activities on Bali. Sasih, a parallel system of Indian origin, is 12-month lunar calendar that starts with the vernal equinox and is equally important in determining when to pay respect to the Gods.
The Balinese open their New Year in silence, the Nyepi day, which falls on the day following the dark moon of spring equinox, and opens a new year of the Saka Hindu era, which began in 78AD. Nyepi is the day to make and keep the balance of nature. It is based on the story of when King Kaniska I of India was chosen in 78AD. The king was famous for his wisdom and tolerance for the Hinduism and Buddhism societies.

Preparing Nyepi


1. Melasti day, held 3 days before Nyepi. This ceremony is aimed to clean all nature and its content, take the Amerta (source for eternal life) from the Ocean or other water resources.
2. Tawur Kesanga, day before Nyepi. All villages in Bali hold a large exorcism ceremony at the main village cross road, the meeting place of the demons. They usually make Ogoh-Ogoh, the fantastic monsters or evil made of Bamboo, for carnival purpose. They symbolize the evil spirits surrounding our environment, which we have to rid of. The carnivals are held all over Bali following sunset and are organised by the Seka Teruna, the youth organisation of the Banjar. The evening the Hindus set fire to the Ogoh-Ogoh in order to get evil spirits out of their life.
3. Nyepi day, day of silence. Every street is quiet, no light, no radio, no TV, no one in the street and of course, no works. The Pecalangs (traditional Balinese security man) control and check for the street security and the good respect of the tradition. From the religious and philosophy point of view, Nyepi is meant to be a day of self-introspection to decide on values, humanity, love, patience and kindness.
4. Ngembak Geni, the day after Nyepi. Catur berata Penyepian is over and Hindu society visit to forgive each other.