The proposed three day Nyepi will be decided tomorrow

Image: The Bali sunsets are now very silent. Credit: SDW.

The Traditional Village Assembly (MDA) together with the Bali Parisada Hindu Dharma Indonesia (PHDI) have put forward an idea of holding Nyipeng or Traditional village Nyepi for three days on 18 to 20 April 2020. The decision will be made tomorrow if it can go ahead or not.

The ritual is carried out with the hope of helping to stop the spread of the coronavirus or Covid-19 on the Island of the Gods.

“This proposal aims to help the government’s program in eradicating coronavirus on the island, so that people do not leave the house unless there is a very important matter,” said Chairman of the Bali MDA, Ida Panglingsir Agung Putra Sukahet, when contacted by Kompas on Tuesday afternoon (04/07/2020).

He said there was a difference between the Nyipeng and the Nyepi holy days.

For Nyipeng, residents are only prohibited from traveling. Unless there are very urgent matters. In contrast to Nyepi, for Nyipeng electricity, television, internet, airports, ports, public roads and other important agencies remain open and running.

On Wednesday (04/08/2020) the MDA and PHDI will hold a meeting to discuss in detail the implementation of Nyipeng. In the meeting tomorrow, it will be discussed how to prevent Nyipeng from burdening the public. It will also receive input from regional heads, police chiefs, and the TNI in implementing Nyipeng.

“Tomorrow will be the final decision. We will receive input from the regent, the governor and the regional police head. If we don’t consider it feasible, it might not go ahead,” he said.

He said, traditionally, the ceremony of Nyipeng has often been done by each traditional village in Bali. However, it is not normally done simultaneously all over Bali.

“Each year there are some traditional villages that do Nyipeng. For that traditional village it is binding, but there are no sanctions,” he said.