Galungan, a time for family gatherings

I Wayan Juniartha ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Gianyar   |  Thu, 08/21/2008 10:25 AM  |  Surfing Bali

A mother prays during the Galungan celebration in a temple in Gianyar. Her two children play throughout the prayer, oblivious to the solemn atmosphere around them. (JP/I Wayan Juniartha)

The burning incense exuded a fine layer of smoke that filled the small family temple with a fragrance of jasmine.

Wayan Jana sat on the ground facing his family shrine. The young man's eyes were closed as he was absorbed in deep prayer.

It was the morning of Galungan, the Balinese-Hindu celebration of the victory of dharma (virtues) over adharma (vices). During the festival, the Balinese-Hindus offer their prayers to the spirits of their ancestors, which reside in the shrines of their family temples.

Behind Jana were several of his relatives, sitting on the edge of the bale (open pavilion). They had conducted their prayers earlier and now were waiting for Jana to finish his communion with the divine.

An employee at a big supermarket in Denpasar, Jana lives in a rented house near his office in the capital. Galungan is one of those rare moments when Jana could spend a whole day with his family and relatives in his village in Gianyar.

The solemn atmosphere suddenly turned into a humorous farce when an incessant, demanding ring tone came from the pocket of Jana's shirt. His cell phone was ringing right in the middle of his prayer, and young man tried to ignore the sound and continue with his prayer.

But, he could not ignore the sound of roaring laughter produced by his relatives.

"You had better answer that call Jana. Who knows it might be from one of our ancestors you have just called in your prayer," Jana's aunt, Ni Made Sari quipped.

The laughter put an abortive end to Jana's prayer. He hurriedly sipped the holy water and placed the bija (grains of sanctified rice) on his forehead before joining his relatives for some warm banter.

It turned out that the call was not from an invisible spirit, but from Jana's new girlfriend.

The news brought another stream of joyful laughter from his relatives. Soon Jana found himself being grilled by his aunts and female in-laws on every detail about the girlfriend.

"You should bring her here with you. We need to know whether she's a nice girl for you or not. Remember, you are not marrying an individual here in Bali, but you are marrying the whole family," another aunt warned Jana.

The perplexed Jana just sat there, trying to comprehend how a single phone call could turn a solemn prayer into a noisy discussion about his marriage to a girl, who had officially became his girlfriend only one week ago.

"I think we should discuss about true meaning of Galungan," Jana said to sabotage the current topic.

He failed, miserably. By the end of the discussion, the aunts and in-laws had not only knew the girl's full name but had also managed to inspect Jana's wallet for the girl's picture.

To many Balinese families, Galungan is more of a family celebration than a religious festival.

"To be precise, it is a religious festival that provides many opportunities for a Balinese family to gather together in a joyful atmosphere," Balinese scholar I Ketut Sumarta said.

He said it would be very difficult for one single nuclear family to complete all the required preparations required for a major Balinese-Hindu festival.

"Its quite common for members of a clan, who live in different cities, to return to their ancestral home in the village to prepare for and celebrate major religious festivals," he said.

As the family gathers in one place, sharing similar tasks and feasting on meals together, the sense of being a member of the same social unit is reinforced.

"In a sense, the religious festivals play a pivotal role in maintaining the social cohesion of the Balinese. To some extent, they prevent the disintegration of family often found in many places where communities are in transition from traditional to modern," he said.

Galungan was special, Sumarta added, because it was a joyful festival.

"Unlike the ngaben (cremation) ritual, during which the family gathers together in a somber mood, Galungan is a festive celebration. It takes place twice a year, so Balinese families have two regular opportunities to come together in a festive mood," he said.

For children, the festive mood is all about sweet cakes, new shoes and the freedom to stay up as late as they wish. For the men, it is about drinking beer and gambling away several thousands rupiah in a friendly game of Cap Je Kie without worrying about being arrested by the police.

For the wives and young women, Galungan involves a lot of hard work making and presenting a large number of diverse offerings.

"Its all about bonding with the members of the family, with relatives, with neighbors. Its about finding once again that comfortable feeling of a family's affection," Sumarta said.

Jana returned to the village two days prior to Galungan, where he helped his frail father cook traditional meals for the family feast and erect a penjor (decorated bamboo pole) in front of his family's home.

Jana's father was once a master chef and an excellent penjor maker. He often chuckled at his son's ineptitude in dealing with strips of bamboo rope and young coconut leaves, the basic materials of penjor's decorations.

"I left the village when I finished high school to try my luck in Denpasar. It is times like this that make me realize how much I miss my father, how much I really love him.

"I realize that this will always be my true home, the place where I will return in the future, because my family is here. My career and rented house in the city are nothing but a temporary shelter," Jana said.

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