Bali, Our Culture & Experiences

Odalan is a Balinese village temple festival. It is an occasion when the Hindu village community comes together to invite the gods to visit them, perform religious services together, and offer refreshments and entertainment.

It is an annual event that celebrates Balinese Hindu heritage and performing arts. The Odalan celebrations are a social occasion among Indonesian Hindus and have historically contributed to the rich tradition of theatre and Balinese dance forms.

Sukhavati guests are invited to join the staff in watching the procession as the villagers visit the local temple. There is also the opportunity for guests to watch the Barong and Pendet dances.

Once every 210 days, Bali will celebrate Saraswati, or, freely translated, “Knowledge Day”. Saraswati is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, arts, wisdom and nature.

On Saraswati day, the Balinese people will bring offerings to the holy books and scrolls in their houses. Generally, in the morning, students will celebrate Saraswati at school, and any Balinese people with office jobs will make their offerings at their workplace.

In the afternoon, people are not allowed to read or write books, because all the books are blessed. In the evening, people will read books (preferably religious books) at their home or in the temple.

Pagerwesi generally takes place four days after the Saraswati celebration.

Pagerwesi (or iron fence) is the day when the Balinese people strengthen their minds and souls against evil forces (the iron fence is a representation of strong self-preservation).

On the Pagerwesi day, people focus on personal strength building. They do this to make sure that evil will not enter their mind, speech and actions and harm their surroundings.

The God who is worshiped on Pagerwesi is “Sanghyang Paramesti Guru”. This god is responsible for wiping out all bad and evil beings in the world.

Galungan is a Balinese holiday celebrating the victory of dharma over adharma. It marks the time when the ancestral spirits visit the Earth. The last day of the celebration is Kuningan, when they return.

It is related to Diwali, celebrated by Hindus in other parts of the world, which also celebrates the victory of dharma over adharma.

On Galungan day, the Sukhavati guests are invited to watch the parade of Barong dancers in the afternoon and in the morning. They are also welcome to watch the hustle of prospection in the temple.