Inside Bali’s Fiery Ogoh-Ogoh Parade Cleansing The Island Of Demons And Making Way For A New Year

The Indonesian island of Bali made way for a new year with its annual Ogoh-Ogoh Parade on Tuesday.
The deeply spiritual occasion takes place on the eve of Nyepi Day, a day of silence and self-reflection in Balinese Hinduism.
At the heart of the occasion is a fiery procession, which takes place at night and is led by towering effigies, the ogoh-ogoh, which are believed to represent evil spirits that need to be cleansed from the community.
The handcrafted sculptures are constructed from bamboo, cloth, and paper and are finished with terrifying detail. The spectacle is of great importance to the Balinese people and brings the community together to prepare for a new year.
The night sky is illuminated by fireworks as the community lines the streets to dance to traditional gamelan music, a style of Indonesian percussion. The ogoh-ogoh are twirled and paraded through the island before arriving at a designated location where the sculptures are burned in a ritual known as the pengurupukan ceremony.
This final act represents good triumphing over evil.