T

housands of Hindus joined the celebrations of the Hindu Day of Silence, or Nyepi as it is locally known, held on Monday night in the Prambanan Temple yard on the border of Yogyakarta and Central Java provinces.

Even rain did not dampen the spirits of the attendees in celebrating Tawur Kesanga of the 1935 year according to the Saka calendar.

Worshipers brought prasadam (offerings) in the form of food, fruit, incense and money in small baskets. All prasadam were arranged on a table to be blessed by the Hindu priests.

The ritual was led by five religious leaders and was opened with the sacred Rejang Dewa dance performed by 30 girls.

A parade of ogoh-ogoh, giant effigies of characters symbolizing evils, was also held to accompany the ritual of taking the holy water from the Shiwa Temple, the main temple on the compound.

Chairman of the Tawur Kesanga organizing committee — or Tawur Panca Kelud Yama Raja Dirgayusa Bumi — celebration, I Gede Bayu Suparta, said that the ceremony was held to praise God through the re-harmonization of humans and nature.

“We pay our debts for taking so much from nature and dumping garbage there,” Suparta said.

On the following day, he said, Hindus continued the celebration by staying at home and not doing anything.

“Taking a rest for 24 hours is our way of giving time to the earth,” he said.

The event was also attended by Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali.

“The theme of the celebration, which was ‘With brotherhood we build unity’, is relevant to our effort to strengthen interfaith harmony as a foundation to build the nation’s unity,” Suryadharma remarked.

He expressed the hope that the theme could be applied to daily life and that the annual celebration, could be understood as a soul lightening and spirit drive to manage oneself and control carnality.

“This is important amid the present situation that is marred with bad attitudes such as corruption, drug use, promiscuity and crime,” he said.

In Semarang, Central Java, Hindu people celebrated Nyepi with the Semarang Lembayung Bali Festival at the City Hall on Saturday night. The city is home to some 11,000 Hindus, most of whom come from Bali or are Balinese descents.

On Sunday they held the Melasti ritual at Marina Beach, Semarang, which continued into the afternoon with an ogoh-ogoh parade. People of other religions including Catholics, Christians, Buddhists, Confucians and Muslims also joined in the parade.

“The festival is representative of pluralism in the city,” chairman of the festival’s organizing committee, I Nengah Wirta Dharmayana, said.

Head of Semarang Municipal Tourism and Culture Agency, Nurjanah, said the festival was part of the Ayo Wisata Ke Semarang (Let’s Visit Semarang) and “Visit Central Java Year 2013” program