Silence day, a holy to celebrate the Balinese New Year will be held on Friday, 3/7/08, on this day silent will reign supreme all over the island. In most areas in Bali, silence day is observed once a year, but as any other things in Bali, there are always some exceptions including for the observation of silence day. The old villages in Karangasem regency such as Ababi, Tenganan and Ulakan have their own silence day, but for this occasion I will focus only on the observance of silence day in Ababi village.

Ababi is an old village, which is situated 7 km north of Amlapura. This village celebrates three different silence days, the regular silence day, which is observed by all villages in Bali, and the other two are special silence days that only observed by the inhabitants of Ababi village. These special silence days are called Nyepi Lanang (male silence day) and Nyepi Wadon (female silence day).

Each of these special silence days is observe once a year in relation with temple anniversary celebration (usaba). The Nyepi Wadon (female silence day) is observed a day after the new moon of seventh month (kapitu) of traditional Caka year, while the Nyepi Lanang is observed a day after the new moon of eighth month (kaulu) of traditional Caka year.

The Nyepi Wadon (female silence day) is celebrated in accordance with the anniversary of Pura Ulun Suwi (irrigation or subak temple). On this day all activities that are considered “female activities” such as trading are prohibited and no female inhabitant of this village is allowed to work on this holiday; prohibition against lighting up fire and enjoying entertainment are also observed.

As for the Nyepi Lanang (male silence), it is observed in accordance with the anniversary of Pura Dalem (Death Temple). On this day all activities that are considered “male activities” such as farming are prohibited, and it is the turn of male inhabitants of this village to be prohibited from doing any work. Prohibition against lighting up fire and enjoying entertainment are also observed on this day.

These special silence days are strictly observed by the inhabitants of Ababi village since they believed that their harvest is greatly depend on the observance of these special silence days.

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