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Parade
of Idols in Denpasar to Welcome ‘’Nyepi”
 The
Hindu Balinese community will celebrate
the day preceding Nyepi Holy Day on 1 April.
People will parade through the streets while
cheerfully carrying big idols known as ogoh-ogoh.
Some of the members will also carry a torch
to keep the parade in high spirits on the
day called ngrupuk.
Unlike last year’s event, the ogoh-ogoh
parade’s organizers are working hard
to maintain security by allowing a limited
amount of parade groups to march through
the center of Denpasar to other villages
around this area. The Bendesa Adat or traditional
chief of Denpasar City, Drs. I Ketut Suda
Sudira informed Bali Travel News of this
recently.
This year the route of the parade remains
the same as that of last year. The parade
participants are to start marching at Puputan
Badung Plain following the announcement
of some directors and the decoration of
participants’ numbers. After starting
the walk, participants go east of the plain,
then turn left while marching on Jalan Melati
to go through respectively Banjar Tensiat
(Jalan Patimura), Banjar Tampak Gangsul,
Wangaya Kaja, Banjar Balun, Banjar Gerenceng,
Jalan Thamrin (in front of Pemecutan Palace),
and Jalan Hasanuddin at the end of the whole
route of the parade, where participants
disperse. At the end of the ogoh-ogoh parade
you can see the burning of the ogoh-ogoh
idols in Badung Graveyard or in cemeteries
found in participants’ villages.
In keeping traffic under control, the Bendesa
Adat of Denpasar has to involve people from
communication offices, police, pecalang
(traditional security members of Desa Adat
Traditional Village) and lurah the chiefs
of autonomous villages. Meanwhile, the carriers
of ogoh-ogoh idols have to observe some
regulations relating to prohibition of drinking
alcohol, forward movement in orders in line
with participants’ numbers, prohibition
of overtaking other groups of parades, and
prohibition of going out of their group.
“The ogoh-ogoh parade will be juried
from several aspects mainly of the idols’
forms, participants’ creativity and
their compactness. This is for the sake
of more order, greater security and better
condition favorable to these activities
in welcoming Nyepi celebrations,” Suda
Sugira told BTN
Every banjar community shall finance their
own ogoh-ogoh preparation, but funding it
through a collection of money by forceful
contribution is prohibited. (sana)
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