Pagerwesi at VSO

One of the things that made Bali, the island of the gods, famous are its many ceremonies. In whatever period of the year, no matter what day, there will alway be a religious ceremoniy somewhere at a temples, at a house compounds, or even on the streets.

The 5th of August we celebrated Pagerwesi.
Pagarwesi celebrates Sang Yang as the creator of the universe. Lavish ceremonies take place across Bali twice a year in which people make offerings to the Supreme God to stave off evil spirits.

The word Pagerwesi derived from two Javanese words, pager (fence) and wesi (iron). Pagerwesi literally means the day of "iron fence". According to their belief, one should surround oneself with a strong fortification against the forces of evil.

So, what on earth has this iron gate to do with me?

Well, these special ceremony days, are also concidered good to pray to the gods for special requests and wishes.

And on the 6th of August, TODAY.... there is a interdepartmental meeting that can influence the future of our office and work in Indonesia. Therefore we thought it was a good idea if we would participate in a special ceremony at our office...

And so we stoud side by side muslim, christen, hindu, non-believers, in our sarong and slendang, breathing the same air heavy with incence, while one of our colleagues asked us to pray, each to our believes...