Galungan, a time of celebration

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Galungan is for the Balinese like Christmas for the West. A time of celebration and meeting with friends and relatives, traveling everywhere.

The preparations for the festivities takes place 2 days before, with the man preparing the sate, chicken and tuna. Well mixed version with coconut flakes and cream stuck on a wooden small spear to be seared over and open charcoal. Every family produced masses of these.

The next step is to find the right bamboo branch, very long and flexible on the top. It involves very intricate decoration work. Ours, at Jiwa Damai, is about 9 meters high and the tip is supposed to be flowing in the wind. 

Balinese blessing ceremony

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This Sunday brought a surprise to Jiwa Damai. Wira’s family came, mother, wife and brother to dedicate and bless the new car. Looking at all the various offerings which they had prepared and brought, it was still considered a small ceremony. The hood of the car was covered with special cloth and decorated with fresh flowers. Goods, fruits and other items were offered to the gods, on the left for the negative energies to leave and on the right for the positive to come in. It was all sprinkled with holy water and supported with incense smell. The lower part of the car was hung with elaborate bamboo creations and will remain on the car.

balinese ceremony at Jiwa DAmai

balinese ceremony at Jiwa DAmai

balinese ceremony at Jiwa DAmai

balinese ceremony at Jiwa DAmai

We invite you to discover the Balinese culture by staying at Jiwa Damai in Bali. Find out more by visiting our website!

13 Years of Activity at Lagu Damai

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We are happy to let you know that this month Lagu Damai Foundation is celebrating 13 years of social-educational activities in Indonesia. The Lagu Damai Foundation which in Indonesian means “Song of Peace” has been involved in community projects ranging from sponsoring local youth, environment education and internships to permaculture trainings. In order to celebrate, we have prepared a video which recounts the story of our work through the heart.

“At the base of our programs is the Heart energy and that means all our programs are based on the Heart, Empowerment, leading to Self-esteem”, founder and long term volunteer Dr. Margret Rueffler.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dr8vu6UqtK8?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

Tropical Christmas at Jiwa Damai

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No matter how far, how hot or how different it may be from where you usually celebrate it, as soon as the last week of the year approaches you start longing for Christmas. So even if you are in the tropical parts of the planet, as we are here, at Jiwa Damai, in sunny Bali, there are still things you can do to calm that wish of a white Christmas.

But since we’re pretty short on snow and Christmas trees, we’ve got our decorations on another beautiful tree, just close to the place we’ll have our Christmas dinner, almost as, or even better than in a colder climate.

Tropical Chrstiams - Jiwa Damai

Tropical Chrstiams - Jiwa Damai

Christmas it’s great in itself, who said you have to be freezing to enjoy it!

Tropical Chrstimas at Jiwa Damai

Tropical Chrstimas at Jiwa Damai

But we are in Bali and each year we also celebrate the Galungan - Kuningan. Therefore, our interns, volunteers and staff have prepared also a Balinese Penjor. Here are some pictures.

Volunteers and interns at Jiwa Damai

Volunteers and interns at Jiwa Damai

Find out more about the Balinese celebration here.

Volunteers and interns at Jiwa Damai 2

Volunteers and interns at Jiwa Damai 2

See more photos on our Facebook Page!