Balinese in Stockholm celebrate Galungan

The Jakarta Post | Mon, 11/02/2009 11:01 AM

Balinese festival in Sweden: Balinese Hindus living in Stockholm participate in Kuningan prayers at the Indonesian Embassy in Stockholm recently. Kuningan is the last day of the 10-day Galungan festival. Some Swedes who have converted to Hinduism also joined the prayers. Balinese is one of 300 distinct ethnicities in Indonesia, home to the largest Muslim population in the world. Courtesy of Indonesian Embassy in Sweden

A group of Balinese Hindus and Swedish Hindu converts commemorated the last day of the 10-day-long Galungan festival (also known as Kuningan Day) at the Indonesian Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, recently.

“The end of the Galungan Festival was not only celebrated by the Balinese Hindus living on the island of the Gods and in other Indonesian regions, it was also celebrated by Balinese Hindus in Sweden,” the Indonesian Embassy there said in a statement.

Dozens of Hindu followers solemnly performed their prayers, presenting offerings comprising fruit, flowers and cakes. They also spontaneously performed a number of traditional Balinese songs and dances, to warm up the festivities.

Kuningan is known as the day of prayer and is a time when Balinese Hindus carry out special ceremonies for the spirits of their ancestors.

Bali is the only predominantly Hindu island in Indonesia, a country where about 90 percent of the population is Muslim. Balinese Hindus account for only 1.8 percent of the total population.

The number of Indonesians in Sweden, including those living there and just visiting, had continues to increase, the embassy said.