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Galungan and Kuningan
Bali's ten days when ancestors are believed to return home, marked with bamboo penjor and offerings.
About Galungan and Kuningan
Galungan falls every 210 days in the Balinese Pawukon calendar, and recalls the victory of dharma over its opposite. The ancestors are believed to descend to their family homes for the ten days, ending on Kuningan, when a special yellow rice is offered and they are sent back. Tall curved bamboo poles called penjor, hung with rice, coconut leaf and flowers, line the roads, and families make large offerings in their house temples. The barong, a protective lion-like mask, goes from house to house in some villages to drive away unseen harm. Because the festival follows the Pawukon rather than the moon or the sun, its date moves against the Western calendar by about seven months a year.
Also part of it, and being written: Galungan (The festival of the ancestors and the victory of good.), Kuningan (The day that ends the ten days.), Penjor (The bamboo poles lining the roads.), Barong (The protective mask-spirit.).
Written by the EveryJaadu desk with AI assistance. Background: "Galungan" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family, and are described as belief and practice. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.