On Wednesday, Balinese celebrated Galungan Holyday, a holyday to commemorate the victory of Dharma (virtue) over Adharma (evil). This holyday is considered the pinnacle of Balinese struggle to subdue the negative force of evil, and what is called evil here is the sad ripu (six internal enemies), they are kama (lust), loba (greed), krodha (anger), mada (drunkeness), moha (confusion) and matsarya (envy). It is an inward struggle, a struggle to free our mind from the influence of negative force that at the end leads us to do various bad deeds.

Though this struggle is carried out everyday but the ultimate battle occur during three-day period before Galungan, when three personifications of negative force come to the world successively, they are known as Kala-tiganing Galungan – which are Bhuta Galungan, Bhuta Dunggulan and Bhuta Amangkurat.

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Today, Redite Paing Dungulan, is the day of Panyekeban Galungan, According to Gregorian calendar falls on January 20, 2008. Here is previous article’s featuring that event:

Galungan, a Balinese celebration to commemorate the victory of Dharma (virtue) over Adharma (evil) will be celebrated on November 29^th. But there is always a battle precede the celebration of victory. The peak of battle between Dharma against Adharma begin three days before Galungan, on Sunday Paing wuku Dunggulan (based on traditional Pawukon cycle calendar). This day is called Penyekeban by Balinese. The word “penyekeban” derived from the word “sekeb” which means “to cover up,” this word signifies the nature of enclosure or restraint. Balinese believe that on this day, the avant garde of evil, Kala-tiganing Galungan (three personifications of negative force which are Bhuta Galungan, Bhuta Dunggulan and Bhuta Amangkurat) come to the world.

As mentioned by the Holy Scripture, they are the symbol of Sad Ripu (six internal enemies, they are: kama (lust), loba (greed), krodha (anger), mada (drunkeness), moha (confusion). In this case the battle is not a physical battle but a battle against our own negative qualities. Sundarigama a sacred Balinese scripture describes this day as “den prayitna anjekung jnana nirmala, lamakane den kasurupan” which means “the day for self restrain in order not to be influenced by the evil force”. Penyekeban day for Balinese is always a day for cultivating self restraint (as the name of this day suggest) since it is an essential weapon for fighting the Adharma.

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