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OPENING HOURS AND FESTIVALS |
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As a rough outline, businesses such as airline offices open Mon-Fri
8am-4pm & Sat 8am-noon. Banking hours are Mon-Fri 8am-3pm & Sat 8am-1pm,
but banks may not handle foreign exchange in the afternoons or at
weekends. Moneychangers usually keep shop rather than bank hours. Post
offices operate roughly Mon-Thur 8am-2pm, Fri 8-11am & Sat 8am-12.30pm.
Muslim businesses, including government offices , may also close at
11.30am on Fridays, the main day of prayer, and national public holidays
see all commerce compulsorily curtailed.
Ramadan , a month of fasting during daylight hours, falls during the
ninth Muslim month (starting in November/December/January). Even in non-Islamic
areas, Muslim restaurants and businesses shut down during the day, and
in staunchly Islamic parts of rural Lombok, Sumatra or Kalimantan's
Banjarmasin, you should not eat, drink or smoke in public at this time.
Idul Fitri , also called Hari Raya or Lebaran, marks the end of Ramadan
and is a two-day national holiday of noisy celebrations.
Local festivals
In addition to national public holidays, there are frequent religious
festivals throughout Indonesia's Muslim, Hindu, Chinese and indigenous
communities. Each of Bali's 20,000 temples has an anniversary
celebration, for instance, and other ethnic groups may host elaborate
marriages or funerals, along with more secular holidays. Many of these
festivals change annually against the Western calendar . The Calendar of
Events booklet, produced annually by the Directorate General of Tourism,
should be available in tourist offices in Indonesia and overseas.
Erau Festival , Tenggarong, Kalimantan Timor. September. A big display
of indigenous Dayak skills and dancing.
Funerals , Tanah Toraja, Sulawesi. Mostly May to September. With buffalo
slaughter, bullfights, and sisemba kick-boxing tournaments.
Galungun , Bali. Takes place for ten days every 210 days to celebrate
the victory of good over evil.
Kasada , Bromo, East Java. Offerings are made to the gods and thrown
into the crater.
Nyepi , throughout Bali. End of March or beginning of April. The major
purification ritual of the year. In the lead-up, religious objects are
paraded from temples to sacred springs or the sea for purification. The
night before nyepi, the spirits are frightened away with drums, cymbals,
firecrackers and huge papier-mâché monsters. On the day itself, everyone
sits quietly at home to persuade any remaining evil spirits that Bali is
completely deserted.
Pasola , West Sumba. Held four times in February and March, the exact
dates being determined by local priests, this festival to balance the
upper sphere of the heavens culminates with a frenetic and lethal
pitched battle between two villages of spear-wielding horsemen.
Sekaten , Central Java. The celebration of the birthday of the prophet
Mohammed, held in the royal courts of Central Java, includes a month-long
festival of fairs, gamelan recitals, wayang kulit (Javanese shadow
puppet performances) and wayang orang (a form of Javanese ballet)
performances, culminating in a procession.
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