Omed Omedan, Balinese Kissing Ritual

Omed Omedan, Balinese Kissing ritual holds annually after Nyepi day of silence. (kanalbali/ZUL)

DENPASAR, kanalbali.com - Wearing simplest Balinese attire, dozens of youth gathered at Banjar Kaja customary community hall, Sesetan village, in Denpasar, Friday, March 8, 2019. They performed a joint prayer before starting the special ritual in the day, Omed omedan, more popularly known as Balinese kissing ritual.

"We pray to ask safety and smoothness during the ritual," said I Gusti Ngurah Oka Putra, the customary leader of Banjar Kaja.

Omed omedan is a ritual held annually, on the day after Nyepi day of silence. The ritual also popularly called as kissing ritual, as the youth are kissing each other during the ritual. However, there is no erotic scene during the ritual. The ritual is held in front of many people, who will flush water into the youth after they are kissing each other. They will also be pulled out by their friends.

I Gusti Ngurah Oka Putra, a figure of Puri Oka Banjar Kaja Sesetan, said that omed omedan has been held since 18th century. It began when ancestor of Banjar Kaja, A.A Made Raka, fell in a severe illness. No one know the cause of his illness.

"They told people that no one is allowed to visit him. And he banned any event that triggered crowd during Nyepi day of silence," Oka Putra said.

The decision disappointed people. They decided to keep conduct an event that triggered a crowd in the village. The decision has cauawd Made Raka pissed off. However, Made Raka suddenly going out from his royal family compound. Previously, he could not walk. When he saw the crowd, he did not feel any pain.

Made Raka told people that the crowd to be held every Nyepi. People believe that the crowd, including Omed Omedan ritual, brings positive atmosphere for the village and its people.

Omed Omedan, Balinese Kissing ritual holds annually after Nyepi day of silence. (kanalbali/ZUL)

"We believe that the ritual must be held every year," he said, adding that the absence of the ritual could bring bad thing for the community.

Oka Putra emphasized that omed omedan was not only a kissing ritual. "Its a tradition inherited from our ancestor," he said.

Omed omedan is rooted from Balinese language, which means pull out each other. "I always remind all youth to tarnish the tradition," he emphasized. (kanalbali/LSU)