Traditional Balinese Rituals and Ceremonies, and How to Behave

The small woven palm-leaf trays with flowers, rice and a stick of incense appear on shrines, shop steps, pavements, motorbikes and beaches, several times a day. Each one is placed with a prayer and a sprinkle of water, and the act of making and placing it matters more than the object.

Do not step on them. If one is on the pavement, walk around it. Nobody will shout at you, and everyone notices.

Balinese Saka new year, in March, is marked by twenty-four hours of complete stillness. No traffic, no work, no lights at night, no leaving your accommodation. Even Bali's international airport closes for the day, which makes it the only airport in the world routinely shut for a religious observance.

The night before, villages parade ogoh-ogoh — enormous demon figures built over weeks from bamboo and papier-mâché — through the streets before burning or dismantling them, to drive out bad spirits. It is loud, chaotic and one of the best things in Southeast Asia to witness.

If you are on the island for Nyepi, you stay in your hotel. Staff will still feed you; you will not go out, and you should not use a light visible from outside. It is not a rule aimed at tourists — everybody observes it.

Galungan marks the victory of dharma over adharma and the time when ancestral spirits return to visit. It runs on the 210-day Balinese pawukon calendar, so it falls twice in most Western years, and the dates move.

You will know it by the penjor: tall curved bamboo poles hung with woven palm, rice and fruit, planted outside every house along every road. Kuningan, ten days later, marks the spirits' return, and offerings are made in the morning because they are said to leave by noon.

In the days before Nyepi, villages carry temple heirlooms to the sea in long processions dressed in white, to purify them in the water. If you meet one on a road, pull over and wait. Do not overtake a procession.

A cleansing ritual performed at holy springs, most famously at Tirta Empul near Tampaksiring, where people queue along a row of stone spouts and bathe under each in turn. Visitors may take part, but it is a religious act and not a swim: wear the sarong provided, follow the sequence, and skip the spouts reserved for funeral rites — the temple marks them.

Balinese cremation releases the soul from the body, and it is a celebration rather than a solemn event: gamelan, crowds, an elaborate tower carrying the body, deliberately spun at crossroads to confuse the spirit about the way home. Because it is expensive, families often wait years and hold a communal ceremony.

Visitors are sometimes welcomed to watch. Ask first, dress properly, stand at the back, and do not photograph the family up close.

The famous chanting circle you can watch at Uluwatu at sunset is not an ancient temple ritual. Kecak was developed in the 1930s, drawing on the trance ritual sanghyang, and shaped for audiences with the involvement of the German artist Walter Spies. That does not make it inauthentic — it is genuinely Balinese and now decades old — but it is a performance, not a ceremony you are intruding on.

Wear a sarong and sash at temples; they are usually available at the entrance. Cover your shoulders. Do not stand higher than a priest or in front of people who are praying, which rules out most of the photographs visitors want. Do not touch anyone's head, and do not point your feet at a shrine or a person.

Temples post a rule asking menstruating women not to enter; it is taken seriously and it applies to everyone. Do not climb shrines, sacred trees or temple gates for photographs — people have been deported for it.

Bali also charges a tourist levy for foreign visitors, introduced in recent years; check the current amount and how to pay it before you fly.

The best way to understand any of this is on foot, slowly, in places where you can watch daily life rather than a scheduled show. A city game works the same way: small teams, a phone, puzzles tied to real streets and buildings, no guide and no fixed start time — you set the pace and stop whenever something is happening.

It works for friends, families and company outings and larger groups. The how it works page explains the format step by step.

In March, on a date set by the Balinese Saka calendar, so it moves each year. Check before booking flights, because the airport closes.

Often yes, if you are invited or the temple is open, and if you dress and behave appropriately. Ask rather than assume.

A sarong and sash, with shoulders covered. Most temples lend or rent them at the gate.

Canang sari, small daily offerings of flowers and rice. Step around them rather than over or on them.

No. It is a twentieth-century performance developed from a trance ritual, staged for audiences. It is worth seeing on those terms.

They follow a 210-day cycle, so they usually occur twice a Western calendar year and the dates shift. Look for the penjor poles.

Bali is at its best when you are a guest who noticed the rules. See all the cities where we run games, read about the region in four amazing temples in Bangkok, or get in touch if you are planning something for a group.