overview
Balinese culture is unique. Most visitors can feel its flavor as soon as they leave the plane. There are several differences between other cultures, especially European ones. Some are obvious at first sight, and others are slightly less obvious. For example, the Balinese do not follow only the Gregorian calendar like most of the Western world, even though it is the primary calendar in Indonesia. They have two other calendars that run parallel to the Gregorian one.
This Guide is divided into the following sections:
Saka
The Saka (often also Caka) calendar is the simpler one. It originally came from Indian Hindus and is a calendar derived from the lunar cycles—12 months (Sasih) of 30 days each. However, the lunar year has 355 or 356 days, so one day is added every nine weeks and is called Ngunalatri, translated as "minus one night," to keep in line with the solar year (365 days).
Each month begins on the day after the new moon (Tilem). Then there are 15 days until the full moon (Purnama) and 15 days until the next new moon. The days in both 15-day intervals are numbered from 1 to 15. The first interval is Penangal 1 to 15, and the second is Pangelong 1 to 15.
The names of the months:
1. Kasa
2. Karo
3. Ketiga
4. Kapat
5. Kelima
6. Kenam
7. Kepitu
8. Kewulu
9. Kasanga
10. Kedasa
11. Jiyesta
12. Sadha
The Saka calendar is 78 years behind the Gregorian calendar, so according to it, it is currently the year 1945. The Saka calendar is also used to pinpoint certain ceremonies and rituals. One of the most important is the New Year Nyepi, which is on the first day of the month of Kedasa (10th month). For example, Tilem Kepitu, the last day of the 7th month (new moon), is Siwa Ratri, the night of Shiva. The full moon in the month of Kedasa is considered the most important and sacred of the year and is referred to as Purnama Kedasa.
Current Moon phase
Pawukon
The Pawukon calendar is a bit more complicated. Its year lasts six months of 35 days, a total of 210 days. The number of days comes from ancient times, derived from the cycles of rice cultivation in Bali. This calendar does not consider the phases of the moon or the seasons.
💡 Interesting fact: The Pawukon calendar is not anchored in any way, i.e., as soon as one cycle of 210 days is over, the next one starts immediately, without counting the cycles. So many older people in Bali don't even know how old they are. They celebrate a birthday every 210 days but do not (and theoretically can not) know what cycle they were born in. They would have to calculate their age with each cycle.
A new cycle of this calendar always begins on the day of Banyu Pinaruh. More about this day in the Ceremonies Guide.
The calendar has ten weeks that run at the same time. This means that the first day of the new cycle is the first day of all ten weeks. Each of these weeks has a different number of days, from one to ten. The first week has one day, the 2nd week has two days, the 3rd week has three days, etc.
Also, the days in some weeks do not have a precise sequence, so compared to the Gregorian calendar, you may see two Wednesdays in a row and then three Fridays.
Another confusing fact may be that in a week with only one day, we expect every day to have the same name. Yes and no. Every day this week is named the same (Luang), but not every day is a Luang day.
The names of the weeks and their days are as follows:
Ekawara (1-day week): Luang
Dwiwara (2-day week): Menga, Pepet
Triwara (3-day week): Pasah, Beteng, Kajeng
Caturwara (4-day week): Sri, Laba, Jaya, Menala
Pancawara (5-day week): Paing, Pon, Wage, Keliwon, Umanis
Sadwara (6-day week): Tungleh, Aryang, Urukung, Paniron, Was, Maulu
Saptawara (7-day week): Redite, Soma, Anggara, Buda, Wraspati, Sukra, Saniscara
Astawara (8-day week): Sri, Indra, Guru, Yama, Ludra, Brahma, Kala, Uma
Sangawara (9-day week): Dangu, Jangur, Gigis, Nohan, Ogan, Erangan, Urungan, Tulus, Dadi
Dasawara (10-day week): Sri, Pati, Raja, Manuh, Duka, Manusa, Raksasa, Suka, Dewa, and Pandita
💡 Interesting fact: The seven-day Saptawara week has extra named weeks (Wuku) in the cycle - the last column in the table below.
The days of the week, which have 3, 5, 6, and 7 days, are consecutive, just like, for example, Monday, Tuesday, etc.
The days of the week with 4 and 8 days are repeated three times starting from the 71st day because 210 is not divisible by four and eight.
On the days of a week with 9 days, the first day of the first week is repeated four times because 210 is not divisible by nine.
The days of the week, which have 1, 2, and 10 days, must be especially counted, and there is no regular repetition.
The calculation is as follows. Each of the days of the week with 5, 7, and 10 days has a so-called urip = ritual value; it is a number between 1 and 10.
Days of the week with 5 days have the following urip (1st to 5th day): 9, 7, 4, 8, 5
Days of the week with 7 days have the following urip (1st to 7th day): 5, 4, 3, 7, 8, 6, 9
Days of the week with 10 days have the following urip (1st to 10th day): 5, 2, 8, 6, 4, 7, 10, 3, 9, 1
To calculate a specific day, add the urip value of the current day in a 5-day week and the urip value of the present day in a 7-day week and add 1 (one).
If the sum is greater than 10, 10 must be subtracted. The resulting number then determines what day it is in a week with 1, 2, and 10 days.
If the number is even (2, 4, 6, etc.), the day of the week with 1 day is Luang, and the day of the week with 2 days is Pepet.
If the number is odd (1, 3, 5, etc.), the day of the week with 1 day is none, and the day of the week with two days is Menga.
The day of the week with 10 days determines the calculated urip, which coincides with its urip value. For example, if the calculated urip is 8, we assign this urip value to the third day named Raja.
If the last day Kajeng of the week Tri Wara, meets the penultimate day Keliwon of the week Pancawara, it is a sacred day. This happens every 15 days. Kajeng Keliwon Day exists in three different variations. For more information about this day, see the Ceremonies Guide.
The advantage of the calendar is that every cycle of the Pawukon is the same, and it does not change. Thanks to the rules above, you only need to specify the order of days exactly once, which is the same every time.
The table shows precisely the order of days and weeks in a complete Pawukon calendar cycle.
We have prepared a special Google Calendar Pawukon Balinese calendar that you can easily add to your calendar.
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