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Nyepi (Balinese: ᬜᬾᬧᬶ), also known as Day of Silence, is a Balinese people holiday held every Isakawarsa ("new year") according to the Balinese calendar, and it can be traced as far back as 78 A.D. Nyepi: Bali's day of Silence Culture, Bali & Indonesia (2009)
The observance includes maintaining silence, fasting, and meditation for Balinese Hindus. The following day is celebrated as New Year's Day.
As Bali's usually bustling streets and roads become empty during Nyepi, there is little or no noise from TVs and radios, and few signs of activity are visible inside homes. The only people to be seen outdoors are the pecalang, traditional security men who patrol the streets to ensure the prohibitions are followed.
Although Nyepi is primarily a Hindu holiday, non-Hindu residents and tourists are not exempt from the restrictions. Although they are free to do as they wish inside hotels, no one is allowed onto beaches or streets, and the only airport in Bali remains closed for the entire day. Tourists who violate these rules can face deportation.
On the afternoon and evening before Nyepi, accessibility on roads is limited. Many local roads are closed for evening parades, making it difficult to navigate by car or motorcycle. Most local restaurants close early, and many ATMs are switched off, with cash removed until the day following Nyepi. Electricity remains operational, however.
The only exceptions granted are for emergency vehicles responding to life-threatening conditions and women going into labor.
On the day after Nyepi, known as Ngembak Geni ("relighting the fire"), social activity picks up again, as families and friends gather to ask forgiveness from one another and to perform religious rituals together. Fires and electricity are allowed once more, and cooking resumes.
Most Balinese villages make ogoh-ogoh, demonic statues made of richly painted bamboo, papier-mâché, cloth, and tinsel, symbolising negative elements, malevolent spirits, or even characters from Hindu mythology. After the ogoh-ogoh have been paraded around the village, they are burned in the cemeteries, although many are displayed in front of community halls for another month or more and sometimes even purchased by museums and collectors.
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In 2024, the ogoh-ogoh parades were cancelled due to the general election being so close to the date of the festival and the regional government fearing that the parade may be used to convey political themes. Only villages, in particular traditional ones, were allowed to hold parades.
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