Hopes for a New Year: The Hindu faithful of Seminyak in southern Bali took to Petitenget Beach last Friday, two days before Nyepi, for the Melasti ceremony that proceeds the Day of Silence. During Melasti, Hindus pray to the Gods and make offerings to them, requesting that their lives be purified and that the coming Balinese new year – which runs to 420 days, with 35 days in each of 12 months – will be a bright and prosperous one.