Balinese Special Event

OTONAN

Otonan is based on “wuku“, “sapta wara” and “panca wara“. So this is how its goes, “wuku” is traditional calender systems, which I may say 1 year wuku (1 wuku’s cycle) consist of 30 wukus numeration (see the list of the 30 wukus on Wikipedia), and every single wuku consist of 1 sapta wara (wara = day; sapta = seven; may translated as 1 week), so 1 wuku’s cycle (or 1 traditional wuku year) consist of 210 days. And how about the “panca wara“, the panca wara (panca = five; wara = day) traditionally also known as “pasaran” or “pekan” (market day), sometime misunderstanding as a week when people said “akhir pekan” which refer to the end of week. So panca wara is a cycle of five days (see the list Panca Wara on Wikipedia).

So when one birth on this earth, he or she has a specific date of birth according to specific “Panca Wara“, “Sapta Wara ” and “Wuku” of birth. By this systems, the same day in 1 cycle shall come again in next 210 days (1 year wuku), so he or she shall celebrate his/her birthday in next 210 days (about 6 months in Georgian Calender).

Tumpek Wariga

Tumpek Wariga is a ritual ceremony dedicated to the vegetations. It’s also known as Tumpek Pengarah or Tumpek Uduh or Tumpek Bubuh. It’s called as Tumpek Pengarah since it’s a day to give instruction or suggestion for the vegetation to provide a lot of food (fruits, leaves, etc).

It enables the Balinese to make any preparation to hail Galungan Day that will come in a few weeks ahead. Pengarah means instruction.

It comes once in every six months or every 210 days, suggesting the Balinese to worship God Sangkara the God of Vegetation. It’s a right time to beg the God to give His grace so the vegetation can provide a lot of crops.