Within Balinese Hinduism, the odalan marks the “birthday” of a temple, celebrated according to the 210‑day Pawukon calendar, and unfolds as a carefully ordered sequence of ritual acts. Preparation begins well in advance: the temple courtyards, shrines, and statues are thoroughly cleaned, old offerings are removed, and sacred objects are ritually purified. At the same time, the community collaborates to create elaborate offerings (banten) of many levels, from simple canang sari to more complex pejati and towering gebogan of fruits and cakes, all destined for specific shrines and deities. The temple is then adorned with penjor, flags, ceremonial umbrellas, and sacred cloths, transforming the space into a visible mandala of devotion and beauty.

At the heart of the ceremony lies the invitation and honoring of the divine presence. Sacred effigies or symbols of the deities are brought out from their inner shrines, and priests recite mantras, ring bells, and use holy water to sanctify the space, ritually “installing” the deities within the temple for the duration of the festival. Once this has been done, the main day of the odalan opens with further purification rites, accompanied by the sound of gamelan, signaling that the temple has become a living meeting place between seen and unseen worlds. Offerings are systematically placed at the designated shrines, and the entire atmosphere is suffused with incense, mantra, and the quiet concentration of collective worship.

The central experience for devotees is the shared act of prayer. Dressed in ceremonial attire, worshippers enter the temple courtyards, bringing their offerings and arranging them according to family, clan, or village ties. Under the guidance of a priest, they move through a sequence of seated prayers, often using flowers and incense as supports for concentration, directing their devotion to the supreme reality, to major deities, and to the local gods and ancestors associated with that temple. The rite culminates in the sprinkling and drinking of holy water (tirta) and the placing of grains of rice on the forehead, marking the body as a vessel of blessing. Some remain longer for personal petitions, vows, or expressions of gratitude, allowing the ritual to touch the intimate fabric of individual lives.

Throughout the odalan, sacred dances and music function as offerings in their own right. Rejang and Baris, among other dances, are performed not as entertainment but as living prayers, while the gamelan plays for extended periods, sustaining the ritual mood. The community dimension is further strengthened through shared food and social interaction around the temple, as blessed offerings are distributed and villagers take part in communal meals. After a period that may last one or several days, closing rites are performed: final prayers of thanks are offered, sacred effigies are returned to their inner shrines, and the deities are ceremonially “sent back” to their subtler abode, leaving their blessings with the community. Temporary decorations and some offerings are then removed or left to return naturally to the elements, and ordinary time resumes, subtly reshaped by the cycle of worship just completed.