Different Kinds of New Year Celebrated in Indonesia and The Greetings for Those Celebrating Them

Happy New Year. We have just celebrated the new year day on 1 January 2022. On the New Year’s Eve, families gathered, had feast, and lit up fireworks. There were also young people who chose to celebrate the New Year’s Eve with their friends by having barbecue party. Conventional and digital media were full of kaleidoscope of the previous year as well as forecast and resolution for the upcoming year.

In Indonesia, other than the Gregorian Calendar New Year, there are also other calendars which their new year days are celebrated differently. Here are those New Year Day with the greetings for those who are celebrating them.

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1. Chinese New Year

The Chinese New Year is celebrated by Chinese Indonesian although people who are not Chinese descendants also enjoy the celebration. This new year day falls on different dates each year because Chinese calendar does not only use the sun to count the days, months, and year but also the moon (or commonly called lunisolar calendar).

In Indonesia, the celebration of the Chinese New Year could not be done openly during the new order era. When Gus Dur became the president, the regulation forbidding open celebration was cancelled. When Megawati became the president, the Chinese New Year Day started to be considered as a national holiday.

A couple of days before the Chinese New Year Day, those who celebrate it will clean and decorate the house as well as cutting their hair. It is forbidden to clean the house and cut your hair on the Chinese New Year Day because it is considered as shooing and cutting your luck. You should wear bright colors for 15 days starting on the new year day such as red or orange because they represent happiness.

Meanwhile, wearing black or white clothes is not recommended because these colors represent sadness. People will pray and give offer in front of the altar full of the ancestors’ picture. After that, people would visit each other just like when people visit each other during Christmas or Ied Holiday.

During the visit, kids and those who have not got married would get angpao (a red envelope with money in it) from those who have got married. From the Chinese New Year Day until 15 days after it, there will be a lot of dragon dance and Chinese cultural festival.

Here are the greetings that we can say to those who are celebrating the Chinese New Year:

- Gōng Xǐ Fā Cái (恭喜发财)

“gōng xǐ fā cái” is often mistranslated as “happy new year” because this expression is the most said expression in the Chinese New Year celebration. In fact, 恭喜发财 (gōng xǐ fā cái) means ‘may a great prosperity be with you’ or ‘may you prosper’.

- Xīn Nián Kuài Lè (新年快樂)

“xīn nián kuà ilè” literally means “happy new year”. This expression could also be used during the New Year Celebration of the Gregorian Calendar.

- Xīn Nián Jìn Bù (新年进步)

新年 (xīn nián) means ‘new year’, meanwhile 进步 (jìn bù) means forward. This greeting is a combination of wishing people a happy new year and a good luck for whatever is planned for the upcoming year

There are many more Chinese New Year greetings in Mandarin. If you would like to make a more personalized greeting, it is better to use professional translator’s service so there will not be any misunderstanding.

2. Saka Bali New Year

Saka Bali New Year Day is more known as Nyepi Day (the Day of Silence). This day is observed by Bali Hindu believers. The Nyepi Day marks the change of year in Saka Bali calendar which also uses lunisolar system.

There are several activities done before, during, and after the Nyepi Day. Before the day, people join in Melasti, a ceremony to cleanse the equipments used for worship. Then, there is a Pengrupukan or Tawur Kesanga or Tawur Agung Ceremony. This ceremony is meant to maintain the balance in the universe and inside an individual.

It takes away the disturbance from the bhuta or evil spirit that takes a monster form. In this ceremony, there is an Ogoh-ogoh (big statue of the evil spirit made of bamboo and paper) parade. It is done from the afternoon before the Nyepi Day until the dawn or around 5 AM. The Ogoh-ogoh is then burnt as the symbol of cleansing from the evil spirit.

On the Nyepi Day, people restrain themselves from lighting up fire (including lamps), travelling, working, eating, and drinking, as well as having sex. They do this silence action from 6.00 WITA (Central Indonesian Time) on the Nyepi day until 6.00 WITA (Central Indonesian Time) the next day. All activities in Bali but the vital activities such as practicing medicine at the hospital also stop to respect those celebrating Nyepi.

The greetings that we could express in the Nyepi Day are as follows:

- Rahajeng nyanggra rahina Nyepi Caka … (Happy Welcoming The New Year of Caka …).
- Rahajeng rahina Nyepi semeton sareng sami (Happy Nyepi for all brothers and sisters who celebrate it).
- Rahina Nyepi dumogi prasida kaanggen jalaran ngeret indria (The Nyepi Day may become our way to restrain ourselves from the worldly matters)
- Rahajeng rahina Nyepi, dumogi santhi semeton sami ring dija ja magenah (Happy Nyepi, may peace be with us wherever we are).
- Etc.

3. Hijriyah New Year and Javanese New Year

The Hijriyah New Year is a New Year Day in the Islamic calendar which started when the prophet of Muhammad SAW moved from Makkah to Madinah. Meanwhile, the Javanese calendar which is based on the Hijriyah Calendar also marks New Year on the same day as the Hijriyah Calendar even though their calculation of days and months are different.

The Islamic New Year and the Javanese New Year are celebrated in unique ways from place to place. There is an area that create a big statu like Ogoh-ogoh in Bali which then is brought around in a parade. Then, it is brought to the sea and give it to the sea.

There is an area that cook porridge and have a feast together. In Ponorogo, there is Grebeg Suro where people could watch cultural parade and show. In Solo, there is a kebo bule (white water buffalo) parade, while in Yogyakarta, in the New Year’s Eve, there is a walking meditation ritual where abdi dalem (servants in the palace) and lay people go around the fortress in silent.

This activity aims to give people a time in silence for self-introspection as well as ask for blessing from the Creator. The New Year Day itself is called 1 Muharram in the Islamic calendar and 1 Suro in the Javanese calendar.

Here are the greetings that we can use related to the Javanese New Year Celebration:

- Wulan suro iku wulan akeh kabejikan lan prihatin. Lakokono opo sing kudu mbok lakoni, ojo sepisan-sepisan gersulo marang Ilahi (The month of Suro is full of wisdom and suffering. Do what you need to do, do not complain to the Creator).
- Sing sopo wonge gelem ngrekso badan lan jiwo dewekke bakal tinemu opo sing dikarepake.(Those who take a good care of their bodies and minds will get what they wish for).
- Suro iku wulan sing kudu iso ngrekso ati nembe polahe lahir iso didandani. (Suro is a month to look inside our heart before we can fix our physical actions).

Meanwhile, here are some of the greetings we can use for the Islamic New Year Celebration:

- Muharram presents to tell us that each soul needs to confess their sins.
- Today is the time for us to start new for the old and broken that are still there. May the bad things become good. Happy Islamic New Year everyone.
- Let all the blemish in life be cleansed, let the new sun bring a new life. May all ugliness be transformed into wisdom and all sins be purified today. Happy Islamic New Year for all of us.
- Etc.

4. Sundanese New Year

The Sundanese has their own calendar. A source mentioned that this calendar was not used for hundreds of years before it started to be used again. According to the edukasi.sains.lapan.go.id site, Sunda Calendar uses the illusion movement of the sun, the moon, as well as the stars position.

Some Sundanese communities started to use this type of calendar again and celebrate the Pabaru Sunda (Sundanese New Year). Starting 2017, the celebration of Sundanese New Year has officially become an annual event in Bandung.

We can see torch parade and traditional arts as well as cultural show during the Sundanese New Year Celebration.

The greeting used for this celebration is:

“Wilujeng Pabaru Sunda tahun … Caka,” which means Happy Sundanese New Year which is usually followed by the number of the year as well as the name of the year.

Those are the four new year days celebrated in Indonesia other than the Gregorian Calendar New Year. Is there any other New Year Day celebrated by other cultures in Indonesia?

Please contact the admin to have a chat on that topic. If you need to translate the New Year greetings for your friends, relatives, colleagues, bosses, clients, etc, PéMad is here to help you translating your greeting.

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