Ukir
You were born in the wuku Ukir, week 3 of 30 of the Balinese Pawukon.
Ukir is the third 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 3 of 30
- Title of God in this wuku
- In the Balinese lontar Tutur Gong Besi, God (Bhatara Dalem) bears the title Sanghyang Mahayukti during this wuku. The Javanese list recorded by Raffles (1817) gives Maheswara 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
- nagasari (Mesua ferrea)
- Bird
- manar (Ploceus)
- Kala of the wuku
- The kala of this wuku stays in the south-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 a mountain seen from afar: beautiful to look at, but close up its flaws show; easy on the outside, hard within. Yet generous and compassionate, skilled at every task, able to sing kidung and to write, and they will profit in time. Like their nagasari, fair to see and sweet of speech; like their weaver bird, they will not be outdone by their peers. The danger: a death brought about by others.
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
On Sunday (Umanis) of Ukir, Batara Guru is worshipped at the family shrine of origin, honoured as the source of one’s own lineage.
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
- Wednesday: Buda Cemeng
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