The Balinese calendar: Pawukon, Saka, Galungan and Nyepi dates

Ask a Balinese friend what day it is and you may get more than one answer. Alongside the international calendar used for flights, contracts and visas, Bali follows two traditional calendars at once: the 210-day Pawukon and the lunar Saka calendar. The way they overlap decides when temples hold their festivals, when the big holy days fall, which days suit a wedding or a cremation, and why your driver, builder or villa staff suddenly need a day off.

This guide explains how both calendars work, gives the main holy-day dates for the rest of 2026 and for 2027, and describes what you will notice on the island when they come round.

The Pawukon: a 210-day cycle

The Pawukon has no years. It is a cycle of 210 days that simply repeats, made up of 30 weeks (wuku) of seven days. Each wuku has a name, from Sinta, the first, to Watugunung, the last. Galungan, for example, always falls in the eleventh wuku, Dungulan.

What makes it unusual is that ten different weeks run side by side, from a one-day week to a ten-day week. Three matter most in daily life:

• The seven-day week (saptawara): Redite (Sunday), Soma, Anggara, Buda, Wraspati, Sukra and Saniscara (Saturday).
• The five-day week (pancawara): Umanis, Paing, Pon, Wage and Kliwon, the old market week.
• The three-day week (triwara): Pasah, Beteng and Kajeng.

When certain days of these weeks coincide, the day becomes special:

• Kajeng Kliwon comes every 15 days. Families put extra offerings on the ground at gates and crossroads to keep unseen forces in balance.
• Tumpek is a Saturday that falls on Kliwon, every 35 days. Each of the six Tumpek days honours something different: metal objects and tools (Tumpek Landep, when cars and motorbikes get offerings too), plants and trees (Tumpek Wariga, also called Tumpek Uduh or Bubuh), gamelan instruments (Tumpek Krulut), animals (Tumpek Kandang), puppets and the performing arts (Tumpek Wayang), and Tumpek Kuningan.
• Anggara Kasih (Tuesday Kliwon) and Buda Cemeng (Wednesday Wage) are also days for prayer and offerings.

Most temple anniversaries (odalan) and personal birthdays (otonan) follow the Pawukon, so they return every 210 days, roughly every seven months. Coming up: Tumpek Landep on 14 November 2026 and Tumpek Uduh on 19 December 2026.

The Saka calendar: lunar months and the new year

The Saka calendar follows the moon. Its twelve months (sasih) are Kasa, Karo, Katiga, Kapat, Kalima, Kanem, Kapitu, Kawolu, Kasanga, Kadasa, Desta and Sada. Each month has a waxing half (penanggal) that ends at the full moon and a waning half (panglong) that ends at the new moon. To stop the lunar year drifting away from the seasons, an extra month is added from time to time.

Saka years run 78 years behind the international calendar, and each new year begins with Nyepi, the day after the new moon of the ninth month, Kasanga. Saka 1948 began on 19 March 2026, and Saka 1949 begins on 8 March 2027.

Other holy days that follow the Saka calendar include Siwaratri, a night-long vigil to Shiva on the eve of the new moon of the seventh month, usually in January, and many of the largest temple festivals, such as the annual Bhatara Turun Kabeh at Besakih around the full moon of the tenth month, usually in March or April.

Purnama and Tilem

Purnama (full moon) and Tilem (new moon) are holy days every month. Many Balinese pray at temples and family shrines, many odalan fall on a Purnama, and government workers, teachers and students wear traditional dress, as they do every Thursday.

Coming up in the Balinese calendar: Purnama on 25 October, 24 November and 23 December 2026, and Tilem on 9 November and 9 December 2026. The Balinese reckoning can differ by a day from the astronomical full or new moon, so check a Balinese calendar if the exact day matters.

Galungan and Kuningan

Galungan is the most important recurring holy day of the Pawukon. It celebrates the victory of dharma (goodness) over adharma, and Balinese believe the spirits of deified ancestors come back to visit their family homes. It always falls on the Wednesday of the wuku Dungulan, so it comes every 210 days. Kuningan, ten days later on a Saturday, is when the ancestors return to the heavens, and its prayers are traditionally finished before midday.

The days around Galungan follow a set pattern:

• Penyajaan (two days before): families make rice cakes for the offerings.
• Penampahan (the day before): pigs are slaughtered for feast dishes such as lawar and satay, and the penjor go up.
• Galungan: prayers at family shrines and temples, then visits to relatives.
• Umanis Galungan (the day after): visiting family and friends and going on outings, so parks and beaches get busy.
• Kuningan: offerings with yellow rice and woven palm-leaf decorations, with temple prayers in the morning.

Penjor, the tall bamboo poles that arch over the road with a hanging decoration at the tip, line the streets for the whole period. They stay up for 35 days and come down on Buda Kliwon Pahang. In these weeks you may also see children taking a small barong from door to door with a gamelan, a custom called ngelawang.

Dates:

• Galungan 2026 fell on 17 June and Kuningan on 27 June. There is no other Galungan in 2026.
• Galungan: Wednesday 13 January 2027, with Penampahan on Tuesday 12 January and Umanis Galungan on Thursday 14 January.
• Kuningan: Saturday 23 January 2027.
• Galungan: Wednesday 11 August 2027, with Penampahan on Tuesday 10 August and Umanis Galungan on Thursday 12 August.
• Kuningan: Saturday 21 August 2027.

Galungan and Kuningan are not national public holidays. Each year the Governor of Bali issues a circular granting Hindu employees leave around these days, and Bali's school calendar closes schools for Penampahan, Galungan, Umanis Galungan, Penampahan Kuningan and Kuningan. The circular for the coming year is usually published late in the year before, so check it for the exact leave days in 2027.

Saraswati and Pagerwesi

The last day of the Pawukon cycle, the Saturday of the wuku Watugunung, is Saraswati, devoted to the goddess of knowledge, learning and the arts. Offerings are placed on books, palm-leaf manuscripts (lontar) and in schools, and students arrive in white and traditional dress to pray. Many Balinese avoid reading and writing on Saraswati, at least until the offerings have been made.

The next morning, Banyu Pinaruh, people go to the sea or to holy springs at dawn to purify themselves, so beaches such as Sanur can be busy at sunrise. Soma Ribek, honouring rice and food stores, and Sabuh Mas, honouring wealth, follow. Then on the Wednesday comes Pagerwesi, the "iron fence", a day for strengthening the mind against bad influences. In the north, especially Buleleng, Pagerwesi is celebrated almost as grandly as Galungan.

Dates:

• Saraswati: Saturday 31 October 2026. Banyu Pinaruh: Sunday 1 November. Pagerwesi: Wednesday 4 November 2026.
• Saraswati: Saturday 29 May 2027. Pagerwesi: Wednesday 2 June 2027.
• Saraswati: Saturday 25 December 2027. Pagerwesi: Wednesday 29 December 2027.

Nyepi 2027

Nyepi, the Day of Silence and the Saka new year, falls on Monday 8 March 2027 (Saka 1949). It is a national public holiday, confirmed in the joint ministerial decree on 2027 holidays signed on 15 September 2026.

The days around it:

• Melasti (a few days before): processions carry sacred objects to the sea, lakes or springs for purification. Expect slow traffic on coastal roads.
• Pengerupukan (Sunday 7 March 2027): after purification offerings at crossroads (Tawur Kesanga), villages parade ogoh-ogoh, huge demon effigies, through the streets in the evening with drums and torches to drive bad spirits away.
• Nyepi (6:00 on 8 March to 6:00 on 9 March): for 24 hours Balinese Hindus observe four restraints: no fire or light, no work, no travel and no entertainment. The island goes quiet.
• Ngembak Geni (Tuesday 9 March): families and friends visit each other and ask forgiveness. In Sesetan, Denpasar, young people hold the omed-omedan "kissing" ritual.

What Nyepi means for you:

• The airport closes. In 2026 all regular commercial flights at Ngurah Rai were suspended for the full 24 hours, and the same is expected in 2027. Ports and the Java to Bali ferry stop too. Arrive and leave on other days.
• Everyone stays in. Streets, beaches and shops close, and the pecalang (village guards) patrol to make sure people stay home. Hotels keep guests on the property with lights low and curtains drawn at night; most serve meals to guests. Emergency services keep working.
• Mobile data goes off. In recent years, including 2026, operators switched off mobile internet for the day at the government's request, while calls, SMS and home or hotel Wi-Fi kept working. Check the arrangements for 2027 nearer the time.
• Shop the day before. Many shops close early on Pengerupukan. Stock up on food, water and any medication you need, and get some cash.

In 2027 Nyepi falls just before Idul Fitri, which the national decree places on 10 and 11 March, with collective leave days on 9, 12 and 15 March. That turns 6 to 15 March into a long holiday across Indonesia, so book flights and ferries early.

What you will notice on these days

• Decorations. Penjor over the roads for Galungan, banners and ceremonial umbrellas at temples for odalan, and women carrying offerings on their heads.
• Closed doors. Balinese-run shops, warungs and offices may close on major holy days, and staff often take leave to go home to their villages. Government offices and some banks follow the provincial leave days, so check before booking an official appointment.
• Traffic. Processions block roads for a while, with pecalang directing traffic. Roads near big temples jam on holy days, while parts of Denpasar empty out as people head to their home villages.
• Sounds. Gamelan rehearsals in the evening and the kulkul drum calling the neighbourhood.
• For residents. Builders, gardeners and household staff need time off for ceremonies, especially their village temple's odalan. Plan renovations and deliveries around Galungan, Kuningan and Nyepi.

How to find out what is happening

• Get a Balinese calendar. The printed Kalender Bali, sold in bookshops and stationers, shows the wuku, the five-day week, the lunar month, Purnama and Tilem, holy days and auspicious days for every date.
• Use an app. Several free Kalender Bali apps show the same information on your phone.
• Ask locally. Your host, driver or villa staff will know what is coming, and the banjar or the temple priest (pemangku) can tell you when a particular temple holds its odalan.
• Read the local news. Indonesian news sites publish monthly lists of Balinese holy days; search for "kalender Bali" and the month.
• Watch for official notices. The Governor of Bali's yearly circular sets leave for Hindu holy days, and the national joint decree sets public holidays.
• Look at the street. New penjor, banners and pecalang at junctions mean something is about to happen.