(2/25/2002)
The Balinese Calendar dictates the flow an ebb of daily life on this island. There are good days for planting a field, laying the foundations of a house, getting married, and even starting a family. Or, shall we say, good nights?
In the Balinese calendar, which runs for approximately six months, there are five Tumpek days - Landep, Uduh, Uye (Kandang), Kuningan, and Wayang.
Each of these days is set aside for paying homage in the form of ritual offerings to the respective component part of the physical cosmos. Landep is a day for all things made of metal, especially cars and motorcycles; Uduh for living plants, particularly the life-giving harvest; Uye or Kandang for all members of the animal kingdom, including the family's livestock; Wayang a day for blessing puppets; and Kuningan an all-encompassing ritualistic "catch all" day, dedicated to the entire world, including those items inadvertently missed on the the other Tumpek days.
Anyone driving about the island on Saturday, February 23rd couldn't have helped but notice that most cars, motorcycles, busses and trucks were sporting beautifully intricate palm weavings hung on their front grilles and from their side view mirrors. Such ritualistic decorations proof positive that the vehicle had just been the object of prayers, food and incense offerings, and holy water sprinklings intended to ensure it and its occupants a harmonious journey through the cosmos until the next tumpek landep day, 6 month's hence.
In accordance with local tradition and our beliefs, all the vehicles of Bali Discovery Tours were duly blessed on that appointed day.
© Bali
Discovery Tours. Articles may be quoted and reproduced
if attributed to http://www.balidiscovery.com.
