AsiaRooms.com - Galungan Festival set to draw crowds to Bali

Bali's Galungan Festival offers travellers a fascinating insight into the spiritual and religious beliefs in the area.

It is the most important recurring event in the Balinese religious calendar and sees a host of enormous puppet-heads built and a selection of dances performed.

The powerful spectacle sees some believers go into a trance-like state, when the evil witch Rangda compels them to cut themselves with their daggers, but the force of Barong protects them from her demands.

Galungan takes place every 210 days, corresponding to the Balinese pawukon calendar.

In 2011, the festival begins on July 6th and runs for ten days, with various ceremonies taking place and special meals prepared each year.

The event is essentially a celebration of the triumph of good over evil, when ancestors come down to earth to visit and are entertained by the performances organised by followers.

Many people in Bali choose to return to their ancestral home during the holiday and spend time with friends and family.

In Balinese, good is known as Dharma, while evil is Adharma. The name Galungan roughly translates as 'When the Dharma is winning'.

AsiaRooms.com features a host of Bali hotels that may appeal to culture travellers, including the Jayakarta Bali.

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