Effigies on the eve, then a 24-hour shutdown

The night before is Pengerupukan. Youth groups (sekaa teruna) from each village, or banjar, carry Ogoh-ogoh effigies several metres tall on bamboo frames, most of them fanged, bulging-eyed demons. In 2026 the Denpasar groups converged on the Catur Muka statue in the city centre, and the youth organisation running the event asked every group to go without sound systems or alcohol. After the parade the effigies are destroyed, a symbolic casting-out of evil.

Both days rest on the same belief: on New Year's Eve evil spirits roam the island, find it dark and silent, assume nobody lives there and leave. So the four restrictions, Amati Geni (no fire), Amati Karya (no work), Amati Lelungan (no travel) and Amati Lelanguan (no entertainment), apply to the whole island. Each village's traditional guards, the Pecalang, enforce them, and visitors are no exception.

The Bali branch of the hotel association, PHRI Bali, has hotels post notices in rooms and lobbies and run them on in-house TV. Staff stay on duty, but from 6 a.m. guests may not leave the grounds for 24 hours, and lighting is kept to a minimum. The restrictions lift at 6 a.m. the next morning. That day, Ngembak Geni, fires are lit for cooking again and families and friends visit one another to ask forgiveness.