Buleleng Northern Lights

Kuningan Day in Buleleng:
Jagatnatha Temple Singaraja, Crowded until Dark

Jagatnatha Temple in Singaraja has a unique event while celebrating Kuningan Day, Saniscara Kliwon Kuningan which this year falls on 28 June. This temple, which is located on Pramuka Street, is constantly visited by Hindus both of Buleleng and outside Buleleng, coming here to worship.

Each Kuningan, the pemangku (priest), pengempon (pilgrim), and temple’s organizer are set to be very busy. On this day, the Hindu members come here from early in the morning until midnight. The unique thing is no one knows clearly why hundreds of people from outside Buleleng come here to pray on this day.
This big temple, with tremendous architecture and carvings, is always visited by the faithful at full moon, tilem (dead moon), and other sacred days. But, there is an extraordinary and special impression on Kuningan Day. The temple is packed, the atmosphere is venerated and people queue up to pray from morning until night.
The temple guardian, Made Adnyana, said the devotees that come from Denpasar, Gianyar, Tabanan, and big cities in Java formerly worked in Singaraja as civil servants, police officers, bank workers and other professions. They choose Kuningan Day as the perfect day to pray. Probably on that day, they have more holiday time than usual (Saturday and Sunday). This has influenced other devotees, so Kuningan Day has become the special day for people from outside the area to worship and pray at Jagatnatha Temple, Singaraja.(BTN/bll)