Galungan in Bali: what tourists should know

Galungan is one of the most important Hindu holy days in Bali: it celebrates the victory of Dharma, truth and virtue, over Adharma, evil and wrongdoing. Families pray at home, at their family temples and at public temples, tall curved bamboo poles called penjor line the island, and the celebrations close ten days later with Kuningan. The date is not fixed: it follows the Balinese Pawukon calendar and returns every two hundred and ten days, so check it for your own stay. For a visitor, it is a time to watch with respect, not a show.

What Galungan celebrates

Indonesia's Ministry of Finance office in Bali describes Galungan as the celebration of "kemenangan Dharma atas Adharma" — the victory of Dharma over Adharma. The name is linked to the word galung, meaning a struggle; the struggle is spiritual, not physical: overcoming one's own ego and bad traits. It is also a time of devotion to God and of respect for ancestors. Tradition holds that the ancestral spirits descend to visit their families during Galungan.

Why the date changes

Galungan does not follow the Gregorian calendar. It falls on the Pawukon calendar, a cycle of two hundred and ten days, on the day called Budha Kliwon of the week Dungulan — always a Wednesday. That means it can fall twice in the same year, and never on the same date two cycles running.

We do not print a date here, because a date written into a guide is wrong by the next cycle. If your trip might overlap, ask the concierge and we check the Balinese calendar for your dates.

The days around it

• The preparations begin weeks ahead — the Ministry's office counts twenty-five days — and peak on Penampahan, the day before Galungan. Families make penjor, prepare the ceremonial offerings and gather to pray.
• Galungan itself is the day of worship, at home and at the temples.
• Kuningan, ten days after Galungan, marks the end of the celebrations, when the ancestral spirits return to the spiritual realm.

The penjor

The image visitors remember is the penjor: a tall bamboo pole, curved at the top, decorated with agricultural produce and woven decorations, standing at the entrance of homes and along the roads. Each one expresses gratitude for the prosperity given by Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa, God in Balinese Hinduism. They are religious objects, made by the household: admire them and photograph them from the street, but do not touch, lean on or take anything from them.

How to behave as a visitor

The Governor of Bali's circular on tourists' conduct, issued in 2023, sets out rules that apply every day and matter most during a festival:

• Respect the sanctity of temples, of pratima (sacred effigies) and of other religious symbols.
• Wear polite, appropriate clothing when visiting holy places.
• Do not enter the main parts of a temple — the inner courtyards — except to pray, and then only in traditional Balinese dress and not during menstruation.
• Do not climb sacred trees, and do nothing that desecrates sacred places, effigies or symbols.
• Do not take pictures in immodest clothing, or without clothes.

In practice, during Galungan: give way to families walking to the temple in ceremonial dress; never stand in front of someone praying or step over offerings on the ground; ask before photographing people; keep your voice down near a temple. If you want to see a ceremony up close, the right way is with a local guide who can tell you where visitors are welcome — ask the concierge what can be arranged.

Planning a stay over Galungan

Galungan is a family time for Balinese people, including those who look after your villa, your table and your car. Build a little slack into the days around it, confirm cars and bookings ahead, and be patient: on these days, the ceremonies come first.

Nothing in this guide says whether a given venue opens or closes on Galungan: each one decides for itself. Tell us your dates and plans — a villa, a driver, a dinner, a night out — and we check each one with the venue before you rely on it. Our assistant replies at any hour; the team picks up through the Bali day and evening. Unlike Nyepi, the Day of Silence, Galungan does not stop the island: it fills it with colour.

In an emergency

If anything goes wrong during your stay, call 112.

Read next: Nyepi in Bali, the Ubud guide, a private driver in Bali and getting around Bali.