As with many other Balinese ceremonies, Galungan requires
a lot of preparation. A few days before, people start stocking
up on food, particularly fruit and cakes which are used in
the offerings. This high demand for fruit sends the prices
skyrocketing. In spite of this, the markets and the supermarkets
are always jam-packed with people.
It is generally the women and girls who prepare the elaborate
offerings. There are a number of special ones for the Galungan
festivities, including: canang sari - flower offerings in
small palm-leaf boxes; sodan - larger offerings made up of
canang sari, rice, cakes and fruit which are placed in the
shrines in the family temple; and gebogan – large towers
of fruit and sweet cakes which are taken to the village and
clan temples.
Two days before Galungan is Penyajan (from the word for cake,
‘jaja’), the day when females sit around the house
together shaping palm-leaves and sewing them together (mejajaitan)
with bamboo sticks, slowly transforming basic plant material
into works of art: the offerings to their ancestors and the
gods. In former times, they would also make sweet cakes on
this day, but nowadays people buy them from the market, ready
made and wrapped in plastic.
Family members clean and decorate the family temple (sanggah)
with palm-leaf lamak and gantung-gantungan, as well as colourful
flowers. In the shrines they place carat (small clay jugs)
and coblong (small clay bowls) filled with water.
The day before Galungan is called Penampahan (from the word,
‘nampah’ meaning ‘to slaughter’).
This is when the men get together cull a large pig and other
smaller animals such as chickens or ducks. It is also the
time when they cook the renowned spicy dish called lawar,
which is usually mixed with raw blood.
It is also the males’ responsibility to make the tall
bamboo poles called penjor, symbolic offerings of thanks for
the fruits of the earth. Meters high, they spectacularly ornament
the fronts of every home.
Many families also buy new temple clothes in preparation for
the days ahead full of devotion, ancestral reverence, and
visiting family and friends.
Copyright@ Kulture Kid 2006
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