INDIA, March 26, 2006: Nyepi, the Balinese day of silence, is a national holiday. Its roots are the practice of mauna, Hinduism’s contemplative silence performed for spiritual purposes. Since Hinduism went from India to Indonesia, the concept of Nyepi travelled the same route. A spiritual The largest Muslim country in the world, Indonesia, declares a national holiday each year — this year, on March 26 — to mark Hindu-majority Bali’s day of silence, Hari Raya Nyepi Tahun Baru in full.
The father of modern India gave his voice a day off every week. Mahatma Gandhi would keep mauna every Monday. If he had a meeting he could not avoid on a Monday, he would write down his answers on chits of paper and pass them on.