Water Fights to Celebrate New Year in Gianyar Bali

TheIndonesia.co - Welcoming the New Year 2022, youths in Gianyar, Bali, held a Siat Yeh or water fight which was the closing event of the 2021 Suwat Water Festival. With the theme "Rise with Water", the event was held at catus pata or village crossroads to purify Sekala Niskala.

This event felt special because the Siat Yeh ritual coincides with Siwalatri Day. Siwalatri Day is a day on which Hindus worship Lord Shiva to contemplate and reflect on their practice of treading a step to be better than before.

Bendesa Adat Suwat, Ngakan Putu Sudibya, said this year's festival was interpreted as momentum for Bali to rise after almost two years of being hit by a pandemic. He hopes that tourism will recover soon and activities will return to normal.

"We raise the spirit as a festival. It is time for us to get out of confinement and excessive fear, but without neglecting vigilance," said Ngakan Putu Sudibya, Saturday, January 1, 2022.

Villagers arrived shortly after the kulkul ringing. They gathered at the village crossroads. The prayer was led by some jro mangku (religious leaders) sitting at the epicenter of the catus pata traditional village. While people sit in a manner spread in the four directions.

After that, Siat Yeh started. People splashed water at each other. Laughter rang out among the cacophony of squeaks and splashes of water. The colorful dippers like a rainbow seem to imply, even though they have different views on various things, togetherness will always be there to build a village.

Sudibya said that he interpreted this 7th festival as a moment to build a vision of 2024 traditional villages welcoming water tourism destinations. Sudibya said, some stages have been passed, from planning, structuring, to the implementation of a village that has a tourist attraction.

Now this village has a tourist attraction named Suwat Waterfall, then a spiritual tour of the worship of Shiva Melahangge. It doesn't stop there, there will be a further plan, to build village economic independence.

"The Suwat Traditional Village is trying to build an economic strength based on traditional villages. We have made a business related to water. First, the Suwat Waterfall and the second is the worship of Siwa Melahangge. Then we are heading to the culinary business. We hope we can make it happen and of course with the support of all," he explained.

Sudibya said that actually, every traditional village has potential that can be explored because there are big opportunities that have not been exploited to the fullest. If each village can work in the sector, then there will be equal distribution of tourism for mutual prosperity.

"In fact, traditional villages have mutual potential. This is a big opportunity but it has not been exploited. If we can work on it, I believe we can be economically independent," Ngakan Sudibya said.