Every year, Hindus on the Indonesian island of Bali celebrate Nyepi, the Balinese New Year’s Day. Nyepi is a day of silence, reserved for self-reflection, where people stay home and are not allowed to use lights, start fires, work, travel or enjoy entertainment — even tourists are asked not to leave their hotels. However, the days surrounding Nyepi are anything but silent – several rituals of offering and cleansing take place before and after New Year’s Day, to rid worshipers of past evils and bestow good fortune in the year ahead. Devotees burn huge demonic effigies, whip each other with fiery coconut husks, give prayers and offerings, and young couples are doused with water during a lively kissing festival.
