The Pawukon calendar is local in origin, believed have come from Java about 700 years ago. There are only 210 days in a Pawukon year, divided into six months of 35 days each. Unlike the Saka and Gregorian calendars, Pawukon years are not numbered, and thus are not used for historical reckoning.
Pawukon is subdivided into 3-, 5-, and 7-day cycles; the cycle’s conjunctions determine the year’s holy days. Wednesday, known locally as buda, is an especially auspicious day; days of obligation like buda cemeng (dedicated to the gods of wealth and fertility) and Galungan all begin on a Wednesday.
The Pawukon cycles are used by numerologists to determine auspicious days for plowing fields or building houses. Birthdays (otonan) and temple anniversaries (odalan) are all determined by the Pawukon calendar; in Bali, your birthday happens twice a year!
Aside from the Pawukon and the Saka calendars, the 365-day Gregorian calendar is also used widely in Bali for government and business purposes. So the average Balinese – who settles his spiritual accounts in his village temple and family shrine but goes to work in one of Bali’s many hotels and resorts – actually follows three different calendars in his day-to-day life.