Saraswati day for knowledge

Saturday the 25th of June 2016 was an important day in Bali. This day is called ‘Saraswati Day’ and is a day that celebrates one of the most important things we have to give; knowledge. Places all around Bali joined in this wonderful ritual including the schools we run our programs at. Saraswati Day happens every 6 months according to the Balinese calendar.

At Volunteer Programs Bali we feel very happy to have been a part of this fantastic occasion and because this day was a joy for us to be in, we would love to share this experience with you. Saraswati Day is a day for the Goddess Saraswati. She is the Hindu Goddess of Knowledge and her name is formed in the Sanskrit language with ‘SARAS’ meaning flow and ‘WATI’ meaning woman. Saraswati is a Goddess that is very beautiful and is often shown riding a white swan in lotus flowers. These are symbols of holiness and purity and they encourage us to use our knowledge to distinguish between what’s bad and what’s good. Knowing this with other things is important for us as we continue to grow.

The team Volunteer Programs Bali was dressed in traditional Balinese clothes early morning and together with some of our students and friends in the community we were getting ready for the big ceremony.

Together we went to the schools to attend the local ceremonies. At the schools we met our volunteers who came to join us and we spent this special day together with the children and the staff of our local organization and the schools. It was a great experience for our volunteers to be a part of this ceremony and it is greatly appreciated by the community that our volunteers are attending as well. Days like this are very important for Volunteer Programs Bali because it’s a time for us to be with our Balinese community and to show our respect for the local culture. We join in prayers, eat food together and share the joy of many great days like this with the people of Bali because it’s a beautiful time to share together.

We believe in sharing with our community and sharing knowledge is a very important aspect for our local organization. We all prayed next to each other and as this beautiful day went on we felt happy to have been with the people of Bali. We are making a documentary to show this happy day and hope you will feel as much joy watching and reading about Saraswati Day as we did being a part of it.