Bali or many would call it The Island of Gods as we know is full of culture with lots of ceremony and special day in every aspect in life, all connected with the religion of Balinese people holds which is Hindu.

So many special day for almost every events or aspect in life. This time we want to share about one of the ceremony Balinese celebrate that is named Pagerwesi Ceremony.

Pagerwesi is the third most celebrated holidays in Bali after Galungan and Nyepi Day and in is celebrate every six months (210 days) on Wednesday according to the pawukon calendar systems.

Pagerwesi derived from words “pager (fence)” and “wesi (iron)”, simply “iron fence”, is a day to strengthen one’s fortification against evil and dedicated to honour Siva, the God manifestation as Hyang Pramesi Guru (the main Guru), and has a very close relationship with Saraswati day. It always falls three days after Saraswati day, and there’s continuity meaning between them.

On the Pagerwesi people honour the main Guru (God or Siva) that transferred knowledge during Saraswati day. It also means that the knowledge must be protected from bad influences and misuse.

If we look back to the roots of Hinduism in Bali, which was originated from India, there is a similar ceremony called Guru Puja or Guru Purnima. However, the Indians celebrate it in a very different way and day. They celebrate Guru Puja on Purnama Kasa or the first new moon every year.

The main point of Pagerwesi is to reminds human to be wise and more aware to the function and power of knowledge.

During the pagerwesi celebration day, Balinese held Tapa Brata (Semadhi) to refresh and calming their mind, on this day also a ritual procession with pray at nearest temple will be held. If able Balinese people will held the pray at big temple like Besakih or Jagatnata, but if they are unable because must work or do some other job, the pray can be held on the night on their own home temple. The meaning of this day can known by it’s name Pagerwesi (Pager = fence, Wesi = iron), known as the day to protect ourself from all negative element, by semadhi and pray to the god to refresh the mind.