Calendars were used on Bali and Lombok to determine the correct time for festivals, rituals associated with rice planting, and horoscopes. Calendars were either painted on cotton cloth, or carved from wooden boards as with the example here. Carved wooden calndars from Lombok tended to be smaller and less elaborate than their Balinese counterparts, although some Balinese examples also are very small. The example here is carved with a stylised bird at the top; then a leafy border; followed by 35 squares (seven days by five weeks for the Balinese/Lombok month of 35 days) that are engraved with series of crosses, lines, circles and other markings, which likely symbolize the various auspicious days,' and then finally another leafy border.
