Bali does have a lot of rituals and diverse traditional events. In fact, each region has their own unique culture and ritual. One of the most famous rituals, Omed-omedan in sesetan , is held a day after Nyepi Day comes. This ritual is only avaliable in Banjar Kaja Sesetan, Sesetan village, in Denpasar. Omed-omedan comes from the word “omed” which means “interesting”. This unique tradition itself is a tradition that is estimated to have existed since the 17th century and continues to the present.
Preparation of the omed-omedan ritual in sesetan.
This unique ritual is carried out by young people who gather together. They must carry out a prayer ceremony first at the Banjar Temple. They pleaded with the cleanliness of the heart and also the smooth running of this traditional ritual. After that, a barong bungkung dance will be offered to remember the event that happened, namely the gathering of a pair of wild boar in this village. They will then be grouped into two groups, namely male groups (teruna) and female groups (teruni).
The omed-omedan ritual was held in Sesetan
After being made into groups of young men and women, it is time for them to line up according to their groups. Both groups must face other. The implementation will guided by customary police also called pecalang.
The ritual began by choosing one person from each group to be appointed and paraded by the police at the very front. This chosen young man must hug tightly. While the group behind them had to withdraw the two partners until the hug was released, if it’s not released, then the organizing committee will water them with water soaking wet.
During this disturbance, there is a high probability that both will be competent in touch, both cheeks, nose, and even lips. Until many say that omed-omedan in Sesetan is a mass kiss ritual. However, the organizing itself was not intended to be such a thing, but as a venue for intimacy between the youth and young women of the village. This ritual is a manifestation of maximal manner or dharma shanti that can be interpreted by establishing friendship between citizens.
At present, the omed-omedan ritual in Sesetan is not only a culture, tradition and tradition, but also becomes one of the tourist agenda in Bali that is crowded with tourists who want to witness the unique ritual. Local people make the omed-omedan ritual as part of the annual cultural Heritae Festival which successfully invites local and foreign tourists to not want to miss watching it. This cultural festival was also enlivened by the perfomance stage, and also a bazzar that made it even more intersting.
Not only cultural lovers who witnessed this ritual, but many also came from photographers who competed to capture the best portraits of the rare momentum of tis unique tradition.
This very lively Omed-omedan, will be full of participants from young people and young women. He is at least junior high school until he is unmarried wearing traditional Balinese clothes. Until now this traditional ritual program is still interesting to witness, and always presents its own exitemnet, timeless by an increasingly growing era.
So, for those who want to take part in witnessing the uniqueness of this tradition, they can schedule tours to the village of Sesetan, Denpsar Bali, during the Nyepi holiday. There is nothing wrong with it, seeing this unique custom, because it will presents its own exciting experience.