Sungsang
You were born in the wuku Sungsang, week 10 of 30 of the Balinese Pawukon.
Sungsang is the tenth of the thirty seven-day weeks (wuku) of the Pawukon, the 210-day cycle that sets most religious ceremonies in Bali. Balinese people mark their oton, the Pawukon anniversary of their birth, every 210 days on the same day of the cycle.
Source: F. B. Eiseman Jr., Bali: Sekala & Niskala, vol. I: Essays on Religion, Ritual, and Art (Periplus 1990), ch. 17 “Balinese Calendars”, ch. 9 “Rites of Passage”; E. M. Reingold & N. Dershowitz, Calendrical Calculations, Ultimate ed. (Cambridge University Press 2018), ch. 12
- Position in the Pawukon
- Week 10 of 30
- Title of God in this wuku
- In the Balinese lontar Tutur Gong Besi, God (Bhatara Dalem) bears the title Sanghyang Gana during this wuku. The Javanese list recorded by Raffles (1817) gives Gana Kumara instead.
Source: Tutur Gong Besi, ed. Dinas Kebudayaan Provinsi Bali (2002), quoted in K. Subagiasta, “Nilai-Nilai Agama Hindu dalam Tutur Gong Besi”, Warta Hindu Dharma no. 474 (PHDI, July 2006); T. S. Raffles, The History of Java, vol. I (London 1817), ch. VIII
In the Tutur Gong Besi
- Tree
- tangan
- Bird
- nori (Psittinus)
- Kala of the wuku
- The kala of this wuku stays in the east: do not travel towards it.
Source: Tutur Gong Besi, lontar, transliteration (alih aksara), Pusat Dokumentasi Dinas Kebudayaan Provinsi Bali, “Nihan paukonan”; R. A. Putri, V. I. Ekowati & G. N. Dwiadmojo, “Avian diversity and ethnoornithology in Pawukon”, Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 22 (2026), art. 43, Table 1
Like the hibiscus flower: given to anger, but able to be held back. Troubled at heart; diligent and careful in their work, firm of heart, but fond of other people’s goods. Like their parrot, they spend freely and are greedy, and their gains come from far away. The danger: being struck by iron.
Our translation from: Tutur Gong Besi, lontar, transliteration (alih aksara), Pusat Dokumentasi Dinas Kebudayaan Provinsi Bali, “Nyan awatekan anut ring uku”, “Nihan paukonan”
Holy days in this wuku
The three Sugian days fall on Wednesday to Friday of Sungsang — Sugian Tenten, Sugian Jawa and Sugian Bali — and prepare for the coming festival of Galungan.
Source: F. B. Eiseman Jr., Bali: Sekala & Niskala, vol. I: Essays on Religion, Ritual, and Art (Periplus 1990), ch. 17 “Balinese Calendars”
On Sugian Bali, the Friday, offerings of holy water for purification are made, and the deified ancestors are believed to come down to earth, five days before Galungan.
Source: R. Goris, “Holidays and Holy Days”, in J. L. Swellengrebel (ed.), Bali: Studies in Life, Thought, and Ritual (W. van Hoeve 1960)
Notable days in this wuku
- Sunday: Pengembang
- Friday: Kajeng Kliwon
These are the days when two of the Pawukon’s weeks meet: Kajeng Kliwon every 15 days, the other five every 35. They call for special offerings and prayers — some are held to be good days, some bad — and temple festivals and rites of passage are often set on them. On Kajeng Kliwon evil spirits are believed to be about.
Source: F. B. Eiseman Jr., Bali: Sekala & Niskala, vol. I: Essays on Religion, Ritual, and Art (Periplus 1990), ch. 17 “Balinese Calendars”; R. Goris, “Holidays and Holy Days”, in J. L. Swellengrebel (ed.), Bali: Studies in Life, Thought, and Ritual (W. van Hoeve 1960); E. M. Reingold & N. Dershowitz, Calendrical Calculations, Ultimate ed. (Cambridge University Press 2018), ch. 12