Make Plans Now to Celebrate The Balinese New Year! Melasti, Ogoh Ogoh, & Nyepi with Facilitator Ellen Watson and Balinese Cultural Hosts Indra Priyatna & Nonik Arisanti at Ananda Cottages in Ubud Bali
March 15–22, 2026!
Join us for a sacred cultural immersion during the most profound week on the Balinese calendar. “Celebrating the Balinese New Year” is a curated 8-day experience inviting you to witness, understand, and participate in Bali’s most sacred series of ceremonies: Melasti, Ogoh-Ogoh, and Nyepi.
Held at the tranquil Ananda Cottages in Ubud, this immersive journey offers a blend of cultural education, ritual participation, guided meditations, art-making, storytelling, and community connection.
Whether you’re a seeker, traveler, artist, or someone deeply drawn to Balinese culture and spirituality—this is your invitation to step into the rhythm of the island’s most meaningful time.
Melasti – Purification at the Sea
3–4 days before Nyepi
Melasti is a deeply sacred cleansing ceremony in which villagers journey together to the sea, rivers, or sacred springs to purify both tangible and intangible impurities. Holy heirlooms, statues, and sacred objects from temples are ritually bathed, accompanied by offerings, prayer, and gamelan music. Participants wear traditional attire in white and gold, symbolizing spiritual purity.
Melasti is not just a physical cleansing—it’s a collective act of clearing the mind, heart, and spirit in preparation for the New Year. We will be invited to respectfully observe and take part in the offerings at a local water temple.
Ogoh-Ogoh – The Night of Chaos and Catharsis
The evening before Nyepi (March 18, 2026)
On the night before Nyepi, New Year’s Eve, all villages in Bali, erupt in one of its most dramatic and theatrical rituals: the Ogoh-Ogoh parade. Larger than life papier-mâché demon .effigies—crafted by local men and boys —are carried through the streets to symbolize the negative forces and inner demons that must be released before the New Year.
Accompanied by loud drumming, Gamelan gongs and torchlight, the parade reaches a crescendo of noise, fire, and energy. By burning or banishing the Ogoh-Ogoh at the end of the night, the community symbolically purges chaos and resets its spiritual balance. It’s an unforgettable, high-energy ritual of collective catharsis. In the later afternoon people begin gathering on the parade routes…we can choose to join either in the center of downtown Ubud, or a smaller village ceremony.
Nyepi – The Day of Silence
March 19, 2026
Nyepi, the Balinese Day of Silence, is the actual New Year’s Day—a 24-hour period when the entire island shuts down in stillness. No lights, no travel, no work, no entertainment. Even the airport closes. Locals and visitors alike stay indoors, observing the four traditional restrictions: no fire, no travel, no activity, no entertainment (Catur Brata Penyepian).
Nyepi is not a punishment, but a gift—a sacred day to reflect, meditate, and reset. It is believed that evil spirits, seeing the island completely empty and silent, will pass over, leaving Bali in peace for the year to come.
