EPISODE 17:

THE CLARITY OF SILENT DARKNESS

BALI, INDONESIA

The Balinese New Year, Nyepi, is a day of reflection. For 24 hours, the bustling resort island shuts down entirely. There are no flights in and out, and no electricity or sound is permitted. Everyone, including tourists, must stay indoors and enjoy a day of silence. But there is more to this New Year's tradition than silence. For several days the villages all over perform fascinating rituals, each with their own local character. Days before Nyepi, villages hold the Melasti ritual, where they join together on pilgrimage to the nearest source of water, be it a lake or the ocean, and they pray to cleanse the island of bad Karma. The night before Nyepi day, they parade demonic statues called Ogoh Ogoh, which are used to conjure up and confuse malevolent spirits. Then on the silent day, the seeming absence of people tricks the island’s demons into leaving in search of people to haunt.