It’s a unique celebration that will give you chills and a thrill at the same time. Demons and spirits are invoked, offerings as locally known canang and take the form of flowers placed in the streets, and sacred purification ceremonies are held all over the island. This all aims to restore balance between Gods, demons, humans, and nature.
Hindus begin their new year with religious rituals on the beaches and mountains where they offer prayers of silence, forgiveness, and restoration of harmony between everything that lives and roams the island, visible and invisible.
There are many rituals and ceremonies that must be witnessed, such as the Melasti ritual, Bhuta Yajna, Lukat Geni Ritual or Pengrupukan, Nyepi Day, and Mebuug Buugan.
This Melasti ritual is intended for Sanghyang Widhi Wasa, which is held three to four days before Nyepi. Hindus carry out prayers during melasti to obtain holy water from the sea. This ritual is performed in temples near the sea and along the coast, and it is interpreted as the purification of heirlooms.