Ceremonies & special dates

The single biggest date in Bali. The night before, villages parade huge, grotesque papier-mache demon statues (ogoh-ogoh) through the streets with gamelan and torches, then burn or dismantle them. The next day the entire island shuts down for 24 hours.

What it means for the island: No flights in or out, airport closed, no vehicles on the roads, shops and beaches closed, no work, no cooking fires in traditional households. Street lights stay off and pecalang (village wardens) patrol.

What you should do: Stay inside your accommodation the whole day. Hotels keep serving food but ask you to keep noise down, curtains drawn after dark, and lights low. Internet and mobile data are usually switched off island-wide. Stock snacks and download entertainment the day before.

Ancestral spirits return to earth. Every home and business installs a penjor — a tall, arching decorated bamboo pole — along the street, which makes the whole island look extraordinary for two weeks. Families dress in ceremonial white and gold and move between family temples all day.

What it means for the island: It is the most important family celebration of the Balinese year. Many staff take leave, some warungs and shops close for a day or two, and the roads around temples are jammed morning and evening.

What you should do: A wonderful time to be here if you can handle reduced service. Drive early or late, ask your villa about staff availability, and never damage or drive into a penjor.

The closing of the Galungan period, when the ancestors return to the heavens. Yellow rice offerings (the name comes from kuning, yellow), and ceremonies concentrated in the morning — traditionally everything must be finished by noon.

What it means for the island: Another full ceremonial day with heavy temple traffic and closures.

What you should do: Go temple-watching in the morning rather than the afternoon; by lunchtime it is over.

Enormous processions carry temple heirlooms to the sea or a holy spring for purification. Hundreds of people in white, umbrellas, gamelan, and offerings, walking to beaches like Petitenget, Masceti, Sanur and Kuta.

What it means for the island: One of the most photogenic and moving events of the year, and completely public.

What you should do: Watch from the side, stay out of the procession's path, do not walk between worshippers and the sea, and never use flash. Roads to the coast close intermittently.

The day of knowledge and learning. Books, manuscripts and shrines are blessed; students in uniform fill the temples; offerings are placed on libraries and desks.

What it means for the island: Schools hold ceremonies rather than lessons.

What you should do: A gentle, low-key day. Reading is traditionally paused out of respect for the books being blessed.

'Iron fence' — a day of spiritual fortification against negative forces. Strongest in north Bali, where it is celebrated almost as widely as Galungan.

What it means for the island: Family temple ceremonies and offerings at home.

What you should do: Mostly private; you will notice offerings and white clothing rather than street processions.

Each temple's own birthday, every 210 days. Multi-day affairs with gamelan, masked topeng dance, offerings stacked metres high, and the whole village in ceremonial dress. Often runs late into the night.

What it means for the island: This is the ceremony you are most likely to stumble across without planning to.

What you should do: Visitors are usually welcome to watch respectfully from the outer courtyard if you are in a sarong and sash. Ask before entering.

A funeral is a celebration, not a mourning. Towering bamboo cremation towers (bade) and animal-shaped sarcophagi are carried through the streets by dozens of men, deliberately spun at crossroads to disorient the spirit, accompanied by gamelan and crowds.

What it means for the island: Mass cremations are held periodically in villages so poorer families can share costs. Roads close entirely while the tower passes.

What you should do: Foreigners are generally welcome to watch. Dress properly, stand back, ask before photographing faces, and do not attempt to join the procession. Never overtake or cut through a cremation procession in a car or on a bike.

Extra offerings, temples busy from before dawn, and lots of people in white on the roads. Purnama Kedasa (the tenth full moon, around April) is especially large.

What it means for the island: Expect temple traffic and busier roads on these mornings.

What you should do: Good, low-pressure days to see a temple in genuine use — arrive early and stay in the outer courtyard.

Blessing days for different parts of life: Tumpek Landep for metal objects and tools (you will see cars, scooters and laptops decorated with offerings), Tumpek Kandang for animals, Tumpek Wariga for trees and plants.

What it means for the island: Charming and very visible — your driver's car will have a fresh offering on the dashboard.

What you should do: Nothing to do but enjoy it. Compliment your driver on the decorations.

Small palm-leaf trays of flowers, rice and incense placed on shrines, pavements, doorsteps, dashboards and beaches, several times a day.

What it means for the island: This is the ceremony you interact with most, without noticing.

What you should do: Never step on one. If you accidentally do, it is not a disaster — apologise and move on. Do not kick them aside or pick them up.

Genuinely one of the great street spectacles in Asia. Every village builds monsters for months, then parades them at dusk with drums and fire. Best in Denpasar, Ubud and any village square. Free, chaotic and unforgettable.

Ride any village road in the week around Galungan and the entire island is lined with arched bamboo poles. Late-afternoon light, empty back roads inland from Ubud, and you have the best photography Bali offers.

Hundreds in white walking to the beach with parasols and gamelan, a few days before Nyepi. Petitenget, Masceti and Sanur are the accessible ones. Stand well back on the sand.

The best ceremony you will see is the one you stumble on. If you pass a temple with gamelan and a crowd, park, put on a sarong, and ask politely if you may watch. The answer is usually a smile and a wave in.

Performance rather than ceremony, but the fire-and-chant Ramayana on the clifftop at Uluwatu is worth the crowd. Around IDR 150k. Arrive an hour early for a seat, and mind the monkeys.

The mother temple on Agung's slopes and the quieter mountain temple at Batukaru both host major festivals. Besakih needs a guide and patience with touts; Batukaru is calmer and far less commercial.