🍚Kuningan

About Kuningan

Kuningan is a major Balinese Hindu holy day that falls exactly ten days after Galungan and brings the Galungan festival period to a close. Balinese believe it is the day the visiting ancestral spirits, who descended to Earth during Galungan, return to the heavens. Families gather at home and at temples to offer prayers and thanks, sending the spirits off with gratitude for their blessings.

The day takes its name from its central offering: nasi kuning, fragrant yellow rice coloured with turmeric, whose golden hue symbolises prosperity and gratitude. Special offerings called tebog and endongan are prepared, and ceremonies are traditionally completed before midday, since the spirits are believed to ascend by noon. Penjor poles still line the roads from Galungan, and the island remains in a reflective, festive mood.

Like Galungan, Kuningan follows Bali's 210-day Pawukon calendar, so its Gregorian date shifts each cycle and it usually occurs twice a year. The live countdown above tracks the next Kuningan automatically. Add it to your own page to keep the rhythm of the Balinese calendar close at hand.