Ngaben or the Cremation Ceremony is the ritual performed to send the dead through the transition to his next life. The village Kul Kul, hanging in the tower of the village temple, will sound a certain beat to announce the departure of the deceased. The body of the deceased will be placed at Bale Delod, as if he were sleeping, and the family will continue to treat him as if he were still alive yet sleeping. No tears are shed, for he is only gone temporarily and he will reincarnate into the family.
The Priest consults the Dewasa to determine the proper day for the ceremony. On the day of the ceremony, the body of the deceased is placed inside a coffin which is then placed inside a sarcophagus in the form of a buffalo (called Lembu) or a temple structure called Wadah made of paper and light wood. The Wadah will be carried to the village cremation site in a procession.
The climax of Ngaben is the burning of the Wadah, using fire originating from a holy source. The deceased is sent to his afterlife, to be reincarnated in the future.
A Balinese funeral is a colourful, noisy and exciting event. It's a celebration, as it represents the destruction of the body and the release of the soul so that it can be united with the supreme god. The body is carried to the cremation ground in a multitiered tower made of bamboo, paper, string, tinsel, silk cloth, mirrors, flowers, and anything else bright and colourful. Carried on the shoulders of a group of men, the tower represents the cosmos, and the base - in the shape of a turtle entwined by two snakes - symbolises the foundation of the world. On the base is an open platfom where the body is placed in the space between heaven and earth. The size of the group carrying the body and the number of tiers on the tower vary according to the caste of the deceased. On the way to the cremation ground. the tower is shaken and run around in circles to disorient the spirit of the deceased so that it cannot find its way home, A gamelan orchestra - sprints along behind providing a suitably exciting musical accompaniment. At the cremation ground the body is transferred to a funeral sarcophagus and the whole lot, funeral tower, sarcophagus and body - goes up in flames, finally. the colourful procession heads to the sea or a nearby river to scatter the ashes, Samu the owner of the hostel, was kind enough to invite me, obviously I borrowed a Sarong, to be properly dressed for the occation.
A death ceremony for Bali Hindu people generally consists af three stages which are, cremation (ngaben), sanctification of the soul (memukur) and placing the santified soul in the family temple.The cremation ceremony in efect is to separate the human rough body from his soul. According to the teachings of hinduism, human bodies origimates from Panca Mahabuta 5 kinds of things that make up the wide universe, that is pertiwi (solid substance), apah (liquid substance), tejah (hot or light substance), bayu (gas substance) and akasa (ether) will be restorated to their origin the world , while the soul will be returned to it's origin god.
Before the cremation ceremony takes place all things required are prepared such as among other thigs: an accessory for bathing the body, perfume to give a sweet smell to the body and other symbolic accessories, complete in male or female dress as well as other devices used for carrying the corpse. After the washing at the body, the corpse is laid on the hall where the ceremony will take place.There are private cremation and public cremation, public cremation will held by the village every 5 years and the good month do this cremation is July and August.
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